


Eternal

by Qille



Series: The Vengeance Series [12]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Age 18, Amputation, Blood, Death, Dismemberment, Drowning, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Vomit, Yoglabs, some surgical proceedures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-05 10:47:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5372522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qille/pseuds/Qille
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The hardest part about a battle is dealing with the aftermath. Ridge knew this all too well. He also knew that his friends were in trouble, and he was the only one who could help them. He was the only one who could save their lives. </p><p>But at what cost?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Last Chance

**Author's Note:**

> So... let's recap what happened last time. Lalnable built a bomb under Lalna's castle, but Lalna altered it to draw in all the flux instead of dispersing it. Because of this, Lalna, Nano, and Lalnable all absorbed a lethal amount of flux which caused them to be sort of frozen in flux crystals and put in stasis. Also Xephos accidentally triggered God Mode and came very close to killing himself. That's where we last left off. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy this story! It's the last one in this series so far, but it may not be the last one forever.

When Honeydew woke up, he didn't move. He just stared at the dark stone walls surrounding him, not wanting to get up and face what the day would bring. He knew nothing would have changed overnight. And nothing would change today. 

If nothing had changed in the two weeks they had been hiding here, nothing was going to change at all. 

After several more minutes of silent anxiety, he got up. It was still early; he didn't need a clock to tell him that the sun hadn't come up yet. He hastily put on his pair of warm boots and a jacket, forgoing his helmet. It was too cold here to be wearing a metal hat. 

He set off, exiting his room and stepping into the pitch black corridor. He didn't need a light to guide him. He had walked this path back and forth for two weeks.

Trailing his hand along the wall, he walked to the very end of the corridor, turned right, stepped over the small puddle of water that was always there, and made several more turns before coming to the room at the very end of the hall. 

As he stepped into the dark room and knelt down by the furnace, he thought about the catacombs he had just wound his way through. Without a knowledge of the layout or the pattern, these tunnels turned into a labyrinth. It had only taken him a day to memorize where to go. It had taken Lomadia three days, and Nilesy still didn't quite know his way around, still getting lost sometimes. 

Honeydew located the coal by the tiny amount of green light the machines gave off. After another moment, the coal furnace began to burn and fill the room with warmth and a calm orange light. 

Knowing that everybody else would still be asleep, he didn't turn the volume on the machines back up. He would do that when the stone torches on the walls flared to life and signaled daybreak. 

With a sigh, he lowered himself into his usual chair next to the bed where Xephos lay, pale and fragile and comatose. He picked up the small cup of water that had been left on the bedside table – most likely by Ridge – and carefully made Xephos swallow some. They couldn't use an IV to keep him fed and hydrated because his blood had become so thin that even the smallest needle prick could lead to severe blood loss. 

He glanced up at the machines, which Ridge had stolen from YogLabs. They all told him the same thing: Xephos was dying. His heartbeat was weak, he was malnourished, having only been able to swallow liquid food, his temperature was verging on hypothermic, and his brainwave activity became less and less every day. 

Ridge had even admitted to not knowing what was wrong with him. At first he thought it was extreme energy deficit, and that all he needed was time to recover, but he had been wrong. He had no idea what was wrong with him or how to fix it, seeing as Xephos was the first of what Ridge called Changed demigods. He hadn't been born with his powers, he had been – accidentally – given them. This left him prone to new complications that even Ridge didn't know about. 

As Honeydew sat thinking about this, he heard the door open behind him, and torchlight flooded the room. He turned around, expecting to see Nilesy, since they were the ones in charge of monitoring Xephos, but he was surprised to see Lomadia.

“I don't know how you move around this place so easily in the dark,” she said, placing the torch in a holder on the wall. She looked like she had just gotten out of bed; her hair was messy, and she was wearing her nightgown and slippers. She had a blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders, but she set it on the table when she felt how warm the room was. 

“What are you doing up so early?” asked Honeydew.

“Oh, the baby woke me up,” she said, glancing down and running her hand over the small yet noticeable bump in her nightgown. She looked back up at Xephos. “So how's he doing?”

Honeydew sighed and shook his head. “It's not looking good...” he mumbled sadly. “What about Lalna and Nano? Has anything happened with them yet?”

Lomadia shook her head. “They've been surrounded by Ethereal blooms for a week now, you think _something_ would have changed. Ridge had been stressing about it so much that he wasn't sleeping.”

“Wasn't?”

“Yeah, I drugged him last night so he'd sleep,” said Lomadia with a shrug. “And... now that I think about it, I better go check on him...”

She turned as if to leave, but she stopped. Then she slowly walked over to Xephos and kissed him. 

“You better wake up soon,” she whispered in his ear. Then she turned and headed for the door, picking up her blanket on the way out.

She left the room and quickly made her way down another complex maze of tunnels. The torches on the walls were beginning to light up, signaling the rise of the sun outside, so she had no trouble seeing where she was going. After a few minutes, she stepped out of the corridor and into a large well lit chamber. 

Nano and Lalna stood in the very center of the room, most of the lights trained on them. They were still completely crystallized, even though they were surrounded by Ethereal blooms and several jars containing pure nodes. 

They were still holding hands.

Quickly surveying the room, Lomadia spotted Ridge, wide awake and pacing in the corner, looking more anxious than usual. 

“What's wrong?” she asked, stepping over to him and sitting on the table he was pacing around. 

“I can't get in contact with Rythian,” grumbled Ridge. “I've been trying since this started, but I can't find him. And I figured it would be a terrible idea to contact Sjin, since he's incompetent.”

“Is there anyone else that can help?”

Ridge stopped pacing, his expression stony. “Yeah, there is... And it's a big risk, but I've already taken it.”

Lomadia stared at him. “You... you've already contacted him? And he actually agreed to meet with you?”

Ridge nodded. “And we're meeting today at the remains of the Jaffa Factory...”

“And... you're going alone?” she asked. “Because you know if this meeting goes bad, he'll probably kill you.”

“Yeah, well I'm willing to take that risk,” snapped Ridge. “It's my fault any of this happened anyways... If I had just been faster...” He glanced towards the center of the room where his sister and his friend stood frozen. 

“When's your meeting?” asked Lomadia, hurrying to change the subject.

Ridge glanced at the clock on the wall. “Uh... in about half an hour.”

“WHAT?!” exclaimed Lomadia. “Why haven't you left already? Get out of here!” 

Without moving from her table, she gave Ridge a swift kick in the backside, and he ran out of the room. He pulled his coat tighter around him and made his way to the surface. 

A few minutes later, he found himself standing in front of what looked like a solid rock wall. However, when he ran a glowing gold hand over the wall, a crack appeared and the rocks opened like a door. Ridge then stepped out into the frozen wastelands of Age 18. 

He set off towards the small building in the distance, which was still in the shadow of the enormous mountain that had once been Ridge's base but was now serving as a hideout for the others. He reached the building and put his thumb in the hole where the doorknob should have been. Something inside pricked his finger and drew blood, and the door swung open. It wasn't the most complex bio-lock he had invented, but it served its purpose. 

Stepping inside and making sure the door was locked again, he knelt down and activated the portal, teleporting back to the Overworld. Then he made his way to the ruins of the factory. 

He waited outside the destroyed walls for ten minutes before a shadowy figure finally stepped forward, seeming to materialize out of thin air. 

Ridge stood up a lot straighter. “Hello, Kirin,” he said, his voice strained. 

“Ridge...” said the mage with a curt nod. “I hear you've got an issue with some flux.”

“Kinda...” he muttered. Then he recalled the events of two weeks ago to Kirin, who remained silent throughout the whole story.

“Okay...” he finally said. “I think I have something that can help you.”

To Ridge's surprise, Kirin summoned a box out of thin air and handed it to him. Holding it at arms length, Ridge opened the box, and was shocked to see a flower. It looked almost exactly like an Ethereal bloom, but instead of glowing bright blue, it was glowing purple. 

“What... what is this?” stammered Ridge.

“It's called an Eternal bloom,” explained Kirin. “It's basically an Ethereal bloom that's a hundred times as powerful and a thousand times as difficult to make. Just one of these could have gotten rid of all the flux in Lalna's castle.

“There is a bit of an issue though... Once they've gotten rid of all the flux they can, they shrivel up and die. This flower will only be enough to save one of them. It's also the only one I have, so if you want to save both of them, you'll need to make another one.”

“Why me...?” asked Ridge quietly.

“Because I have other things to sort out,” he said vaguely. 

Ridge groaned. “Okay, so how exactly do I make another one of these?”

The mage paused for a moment, then he conjured a quill and piece of paper out of thin air. He quickly scribbled something down and handed it to Ridge.

“Those are the ingredients you need,” he explained. “You need an infusion alter to make it.”

As Ridge read through the list, he felt all three of his hearts stop.

_Ethereal bloom (center)_  
Hydra blood  
Naga scales  
Nether star  
Ender Skeleton bone marrow  
Ender Dragon scales  
Brew of Flowing Spirits  
Enchanted golden apple  
Spectral dust 

“You're kidding, right?” he stammered. 

“If I was able to do it with only one heart, I'm sure you'll be able to,” said Kirin. He looked like he had something to add, but a glowing blue rune appeared on the back of his hand. “I have to go. Important business to take care of...”

Then he turned and disappeared back into the shadows, leaving Ridge alone with the Eternal bloom, the list of ingredients, and a horrible sinking feeling that he wouldn't be able to save everyone. There was only an Eternal bloom for one, and Kirin had said nothing about how to save Xephos. 

Feeling nauseous, Ridge quickly returned to the bio-lock and took the portal inside back to Age 18. The sun was fully up now, but the wind was howling, dropping the temperature into the negatives. That wouldn't matter inside the mountain though.

He ran back to the hidden door and slipped inside, sealing the rock behind him. He was shaking, but it wasn't because of the cold. 

He slowly made his way back down to the large chamber where Nano and Lalna were. When he walked in, he saw that Lomadia had fallen asleep at the table. She clearly hadn't gotten a good night sleep in a while; it was probably a combination of her little friend waking her up and making her sick and the stress of worrying about Xephos. 

Ridge didn't want to wake her up, but he had to. He desperately need her opinion. 

“Lomadia,” he said quietly, shaking her shoulder. She lifted her head and struggled to open her eyes.

“What?” she mumbled, looking up at Ridge. 

“I know how to save them.”

She woke up very quickly after that. He showed her the Eternal bloom, but he explained that there was only enough power in it to save one person. They had to choose between Lalna and Nano. 

“How the hell are we supposed to make that choice?”

Ridge shook his head and walked over to his frozen friends. His eyes began to glow gold, and he put his hand on Lalna's shoulder. 

“What are you doing?” asked Lomadia, walking over and standing beside Ridge.

“Scanning them to see if there's anything I missed...” he muttered. A moment later, he stepped away from Lalna, his eyes returning to blue. 

“Lalna was injured in the explosion,” he said, more to himself than to Lomadia. “There's shrapnel lodged in his chest, and his arm is mangled... He'll need an operation and an amputation when we wake him up. He lost a lot of blood before being frozen, and his signs of life are getting weaker... Not sure how much longer he'll survive if we leave him in stasis like this...”

He stepped over to Nano and scanned her as well.

“Okay... she...”

He trailed off, no longer talking out loud but moving his lips and thinking. Lomadia tried to read his lips to see what he was muttering, but she couldn't gleam any information. 

Suddenly, he stepped away from them and turned his back. Lomadia saw that he suddenly looked tremendously sad.

He walked over to the table and picked up the Eternal bloom.


	2. Signs of Life

Lalna opened his eyes and looked around. Wherever he was, it was dark and cold.

Slowly, he sat up, feeling a bit of pain in his chest. He looked down and saw that his shirt was bloodstained. Then he realized he couldn't feel his arm. Glancing to his right, he saw that his arm was still bloody and mangled beyond repair. 

Then he realized he wasn't breathing. He sat there for a moment and tried to force himself to take a breath, but nothing happened. He couldn't inhale, but for some reason it didn't seem to be bothering him. 

Suddenly, he heard a voice, and a bright gold light appeared far to his right. Slowly standing, he dizzily stumbled towards the light. As he moved closer, the air around him got warmer. He continued towards the gold light until he was suddenly stopped by a wall that seemed to be made of purple glass.

“Hello?” he called, pressing his hand against the glass. He saw movement on the other side, and suddenly Nano appeared. 

“Lalna!” she exclaimed, laughing and pressing her face against the glass. It was strange how well he could hear her through the solid wall.

“It's about time you showed up,” she continued, sitting down. “I've been sitting here for a while just listening to my own heartbeat.” She gestured behind her, and Lalna realized that the area she was in was bright with golden light and warm. 

“I don't think that's a heartbeat,” he said, sitting down too and pressing his ear against the glass, listening to the beating noise. “Neither of our hearts are beating right now. We're in stasis, remember?”

“Oh yeah...” muttered Nano. She shook her head. “I've never actually been in stasis before, this is all new and confusing to me.”

“I've never been conscious during stasis before, so this is new to me too,” said Lalna, sitting back. “And that's not a heartbeat you're hearing, it's your signs of life. Means you're healthy and alive.”

“Well apparently I'm very alive, because this noise is very annoying,” grumbled Nano, glaring over her shoulder and shaking her head. When she turned back to Lalna, however, she seemed to notice something.

“Wait a second...” she said. “Why is your side all dark?”

Lalna had hoped she wouldn't ask this. “Well... I lost a lot of blood before I froze, so...”

Nano shook her head a bit. “I wonder how long we've been like this.”

“We have no perception of time in a state like this,” said Lalna tiredly. “It could be hours or weeks.”

“Well that'll mess with your mind,” said Nano with a laugh. When she laughed, however, she reached up and brushed her hair back, and Lalna thought he saw blood on her arm and side.

“Nano, are you hurt?” he asked quickly, feeling panic building. 

“Well, I've got this scrape on my elbow, but that's it,” said Nano, holding up her arm and looking at the scratches on her elbow. “Also my feet hurt, but I'm not sure what that's about.”

“What about your side?” asked Lalna, pointing to the blood all over the side of her shirt.

Nano looked down and pulled the sticky shirt away from her side. “Lalna, this is _your_ blood.”

“Oh...” he muttered, glancing down at his arm.

“How badly were _you_ injured?” asked Nano, looking worried and the slightest bit nauseous. 

“Well... there's some shrapnel in my chest, and my arm is pretty fucked up...” he muttered, trying not to look at his arm. “But it's fine for now because I'm still in stasis.”

“What's going to happen when you're woken up?” asked Nano, who was also trying not to look at Lalna's arm.

He shrugged. “Guess they'll just have to move fast.”

They sat there in silence for a moment, both of them leaning against the glass wall, trying to be as close to each other as possible. While Nano was there, Lalna could feel the area around him warming up, and the darkness was driven further back. 

“Does being in stasis jumble your thoughts?” asked Nano.

“Sometimes. Why?”

“I feel like my head's on upside down,” she said. 

“That's one of the side effects,” said Lalna. “But they usually start when you're taken out of stasis. I remember the first time I woke up from an extended stasis, and I was sick for a week.”

Nano groaned. “Can't wait...”

They were quiet for another few minutes until Nano spoke up again.

“I was trying to think about what happened at the castle...” she started.

“Trying?”

“Yeah, I can't exactly remember what happened. That's why I said it felt like my head was on the wrong way.”

“Well... Mother protected us from the blast, and we absorbed all the flux, which is why what happened to Lalnable also happened to us.”

“If Mother protected us, then how did you get hurt?” asked Nano.

“She must have used more power to completely protect you,” he said with a shrug. She looked like she wanted to apologize, but Lalna quickly shook his head. “Don't worry about it. I'm glad you weren't injured. I honestly don't know what I would do if I lost you...”

Nano smiled sadly, pressing her hand against the glass. She looked like she was tearing up. 

“Lalna, I-”

She was cut off by a loud crack. Something was happening. She looked around frantically and opened her mouth to say something, but then she disappeared, taking the light and warmth with her and leaving Lalna to the mercy of the darkness. 

**XXX**

Nano screamed the second the flux fully melted away. Her first act upon being taken out of stasis was to throw a punch at the closest person, which happened to be Ridge. Her small fist hit him directly in the mouth, and he staggered backwards, spitting out blood and a small piece of tooth. 

A second later, Nano began to take in her surroundings. She saw Ridge holding a cloth to his mouth and Lomadia holding her by the arm. For that split second, she wondered why Lomadia was holding on to her. Then she was overcome with a wave of dizziness, and her legs ceased functioning. She dropped, and Lomadia grabbed her and began to drag her towards a bed set up in the corner of the room. Ridge appeared next to her and grabbed her other arm.

She let herself be dragged along, too disoriented and weak to fight. However, when they were halfway to the bed, she suddenly doubled over and vomited. 

After that, she started to black out. Ridge had picked her up and carried her to the bed. She felt like she was going to be sick again, but Lomadia put a mask over her face, and she was suddenly breathing wonderfully cool and fresh air. The nausea went away, and when she closed her eyes she didn't feel dizzy. She still couldn't get her thoughts straight – it was like somebody had put her brain in a blender. 

Something pricked her right arm – she knew it was a needle but she didn't want to look at it for fear of throwing up again. So she let her head fall to the left.

She saw Lalna. He was still standing there, frozen in purple crystals, his prosthetic hand attached to his mangled arm, which was reaching out towards her. His hand was still clenched, and only minutes ago he had been holding her hand. 

She felt her stomach do a flip, but just before the wall of emotions could hit her, she dropped out of consciousness, falling into a blissfully dreamless sleep.

“Whoa, what just happened?” asked Lomadia, shocked at how quickly Nano had passed out. She glanced at the IV line. “There weren't any drugs in this, right?”

Ridge shook his head. There was still blood in his mouth, and he could feel that Nano had chipped his front tooth when she punched him. He wanted to say something though, so he swallowed the blood in his mouth. Almost immediately he felt queasy. 

“Take the line out, but leave the needle in,” he said. “I'll bring her to a private room, and I want you to keep an eye on her while I work on getting the ingredients for another Eternal bloom. She shouldn't wake up until tomorrow...”

He bent over and carefully picked Nano up, cradling her tiny body. Then he turned and carried her out of the large room, doing his best not to look back at Lalna.

The whole time he told himself he had done the right thing.


	3. Livid

It was dark when Nano woke up. Too dark to be natural. She lay there blinking for a minute before slowly coming to the realization that her eyes didn't seem to be working. 

She gulped and whispered “Hello?”

“You're awake,” said a voice to her left. Nano recognized the voice as belonging to Lomadia, and she breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Why can't I see anything?” asked Nano, feeling slightly less panicked knowing that Lomadia was right next to her.

“It's okay, it's a side effect of being taken out of an extended stasis,” said Lomadia calmly. “It'll pass in a few hours.”

Nano took a deep breath, relieved that she would be able to see again in a few hours. However, when she sighed, she felt a tightness in her chest, and it was hard to breathe. Lomadia seemed to notice.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, can I sit up?” she asked, grimacing a bit.

“Sure.”

She felt Lomadia's hand slip under her back and help her sit upright, but the second she was up, a wave of nausea overcame her, and she doubled over. She must have gone pale, because she felt Lomadia shove a bucket into her hands. A second later, she heaved and vomited in the bucket.

After the fit was over a minute later, Lomadia took the bucket, and Nano leaned back against her pillow, more upright than before. She felt dizzy, and she was sure if she could see the room would be spinning. 

“Yeah, nausea is also a side effect,” said Lomadia as she put a cold rag on Nano's forehead. “That should also wear off soon.”

“What about dizziness?” she asked, taking the cloth and pressing it over her eyes. 

“Hm... hold on...” She heard Lomadia moving around the room, and a minute later she sat back down. “Here, drink this.”

A warm cup was pressed into Nano's hand.

“What is this? Medicine?”

“No, it's ginger tea. Your blood sugar is probably low, so this will help. It also helps with nausea.”

“Oh, thanks...” said Nano quietly, readjusting the cold cloth so that it sat on top of her head and sipping the hot tea. Suddenly, she gasped.

“What! What?” exclaimed Lomadia, jumping at the sudden gasp. 

“Lalna? What happened to Lalna?” she exclaimed, suddenly frantic. She had seen him frozen, but if they had found a way to wake her up, surely they would have woken him up too.

Lomadia was silent for a minute, and as the silence drew longer, Nano became more anxious.

“Well...” she finally said, “the way we woke you up was with this thing called an Eternal bloom.”

Nano nodded. “I think Kirin told me about them once.”

“Yeah, well... we only had one, and after it absorbed all of your flux, it died...”

Nano closed her eyes and held her breath. 

“Ridge... he's out right now collecting the things he needs to make another one, but... Are you okay?”

Nano took a deep breath, but it hitched in her throat. She felt tears running down her face, which shocked her. It had been a long time since she last cried.

“Nano...?” Lomadia's voice was quiet, and Nano felt her hand on her shoulder.

“It's just... he's all alone...”

**XXX**

Lalna sat unmoving, pressed against the glass wall where Nano had been. The light had long gone, and the cold and darkness was back. He was too scared to move. 

Then he heard footsteps. For the first time since Nano disappeared, he moved, sitting up and looking around. However, the darkness hid the source of the sound. He didn't trust it.

Suddenly, something grabbed him by the throat from behind and pulled him to his feet. He looked over his shoulder and saw himself, wearing a black lab coat and goggles with red-tinted glass. 

“Livid,” said Lalna quietly, glaring at the embodiment of his own insanity. 

“Nice to see you again,” said Livid, keeping his grip on Lalna's neck. 

“I thought I killed you,” he choked out. 

“Oh, you did,” said Livid, nodding. “I'm just a memory. I'm here because you're dead too. Your heart stopped right before you froze. Your body is dead, but your mind is still alive. Let's say you're trapped in a sort of limbo between life and death, and since you broke the block on your old memories...”

He paused, an evil grin spreading across his face.

“Let's go have a look, shall we?”

Then he dragged Lalna into the darkness. 

**XXX**

Ridge stood in the dark, breathing hard. His shoulder was burning from where the Ender Skeleton had sliced him open, but the Skeleton had fared much worse. It was now in pieces after he had mercilessly slaughtered it.

Kneeling down, he scraped as much bone marrow as he could into a small glass jar, and he stored it safely away. Then he turned and teleported up to the surface of the moon. He hadn't used a suit, he simply encased himself in an oxygen shield, which let him breathe and not freeze to death. 

He looked up at the planet above him and rose into the air towards it. What felt like only a minute later, he felt himself falling. Just before he reached the atmosphere, he teleported back down to the old Factory. 

Letting the oxygen shield fall away, he headed back to the bio-lock that would take him back to Age 18. When he was halfway there, however, something burst from the shadows of the trees and grabbed him. Before he could react, another one appeared and started trying to bite his neck.

With a sharp blast of magic, both creatures were killed. 

Ridge stepped back, shocked when he realized that he had been attacked by two Bedrock zombies.

“Well...” he muttered to himself, watching as the zombies slowly disintegrated. “Looks like somebody's been acting up...”

Then he turned and ran to the bio-lock.

As soon as he returned to the mountain, the first thing he did was check on Xephos. He could tell the second he walked into the room that he was barely holding on. 

He glanced over to the side of the room and saw that Honeydew and Nilesy were standing over to the side of the room, looking at a book and pointing out various things. They hadn't noticed him.

He stepped closer and put his hand on Xephos' chest. He was freezing cold, and there was barely any soul left in his body. 

There was a yelp from Nilesy as he realized Ridge was standing a few feet away from him. 

“Oh, Ridge!” exclaimed Honeydew. “We think we might have found a way to wake Xephos up!”

“Yes!” exclaimed Nilesy nervously. He had never been very comfortable around Ridge. “We uh... we think we may have found a way to cure him... but uh... I need to do some tests... and uh... make some potions.” 

He ran out of the room. 

“We're working on it,” said Honeydew. “How's the magic flower going?”

“Well, I have one more piece of the puzzle,” said Ridge, slipping his hand into his pocket where the jar sat. “Just keep an eye on Xephos, and keep him warm.”

Honeydew nodded, and Ridge turned and left the room, heading down to see Nano and Lomadia. 

When he walked into the room, he saw Nano asleep with a cold cloth on her forehead. Lomadia was reclining in her chair next to the bed. She looked up when he came in.

“You're bleeding,” she said, pointing to the wound on his shoulder.

“Oh, right,” he muttered. He glanced at his shoulder, and a gold light sparkled inside the wound, which began to rapidly close. 

Lomadia looked back at Nano, shifting in her chair and grimacing at how much her back and ribs were aching. 

“So...” said Ridge, “have you told her?”

“I told her about Lalna, and that's it...” said Lomadia, standing up and stretching, one hand on her back and the other on her stomach. 

“Good,” said Ridge. “She'll find out soon enough, but I don't think she needs the stress yet.”

“It took her a while to get back to sleep. She's really worried about Lalna.”

“She should be,” said Ridge, glancing at his sister. “He barely showed any signs of life when I scanned him. He must have died right before being frozen.”

“Maybe don't use those exact words when Nano wakes up...”

“Right...” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Ender Skeleton bone marrow. “I got this.”

“Alright, well go put it on the altar before you lose it.”

She glanced at the hard wooden chair, but before she could say anything, Ridge waved his hand and transformed it into a large cushioned armchair. Lomadia smiled at him. 

He turned and left, deciding not to mention the Bedrock zombie attack. 

On his way to the altar, he stopped to check on Lalna. A quick scan showed him that his signs of life had slightly decreased. 

He sighed and shook his head, wishing there were something more he could do.

“Good luck,” he whispered. Then he headed for the altar. After he deposited the bone marrow, his next stop would be the Overworld.

It was time to pay his old friend a visit.


	4. Old Friends and Lost Memories

The sun was setting by the time Ridge had everything set up. He had moved far away from his base in the Overworld, after gathering the golden apple and Ender Dragon scales he had lying around. 

Taking a deep breath, Ridge placed the last Wither skull on the soul sand, there was a blast of blue light, and suddenly the Wither was crouched in the crater it had caused.

It looked up, but when it saw Ridge, it froze, staring at him.

Ridge cracked a smile. “Hello old friend.”

There was a split second of silence before the Wither let out an ear-splitting cry of rage. It shot into the air and shot everything it could at him, trying with every fiber in it's being to murder Ridge.

He ducked and dodged away from the skulls being fired at him, and after a minute, the Wither had exhausted itself, and Ridge had a chance to summon a bow. He shot at it and deftly stepped away from the skulls being fired at him. It only took him several minutes to bring the Wither back to the ground.

Pulling out a diamond sword, he ran forward and hacked at the Wither. It still hadn't stopped screaming. 

A split second before Ridge stabbed the Wither through the center skull and killed it, it shot him in the shoulder and the poison immediately began to spread through him.

The Wither died a second later, and Ridge stumbled back, taking off his jacket and pulling the collar of his shirt away to look at his shoulder. He stared at the black streaks of poison beneath his skin, and he watched as they disappeared a moment later, being absorbed into his blood. He felt himself break out in a cold sweat as his temperature shot up, but a moment later it had returned to normal. The poison left him unharmed. 

Putting his coat back on, he reached into the ribcage of the dead Wither and removed the Nether Star. He stored it safely next to the scales and apple before teleporting back to the bio-lock, and then back to Age 18. The temperature had dropped drastically as the sun set, so he didn't linger outside.

When he returned to the mountain, the first thing he did was check on Xephos, who was fading faster every day. However, he was surprised to find Nilesy and Honeydew both asleep on the floor with Lomadia standing over them.

“What the hell?”

“That was fast,” said Lomadia tightly as she stood with her arms crossed, glaring down at her friends. 

“What's going on?” asked Ridge carefully. He could tell Lomadia was pissed, but he wasn't sure why.

“They're in the Spirit World looking for Xephos,” explained Lomadia. “And they wouldn't let me go with them because I'm pregnant.” 

“Well, it's probably for the best,” said Ridge, ignoring the glare Lomadia shot his way. “None of us are sure what a sleeping potion would do to a baby, so it's best not to risk it.”

He glanced over and saw her glaring at him in a way that told him he wasn't supposed to prove her wrong. 

“So, Spirit World?” he quickly asked. “Why do they think he's there?”

“Well, Nilesy noticed a while ago that when somebody was in the Spirit World, the body they left behind experienced symptoms kind of like Xephos', just less extreme,” explained Lomadia, looking less bitter and more tired. She gestured to Honeydew and Nilesy. “Just look at those two and compare.”

Ridge knelt down and did a quick scan. Sure enough, both of their body temperatures were lower, their breathing and heart rate was slower, and it wouldn't be possible to wake them up without killing them. They matched Xephos' symptoms. 

“So... their plan is to find him in the Spirit World and wake him up?” asked Ridge, glancing over his shoulder to see Lomadia nod. He stood and walked over to Xephos.

“What I'm wondering,” he said, “is how his mind ended up in the Spirit World in the first place... Usually the only way to stay there for an extended time is with a sleeping potion. He was burning out when he went into a coma, suffering from an energy deficit so extreme it should have stopped his heart. He should have either been awake or dead by now. So what brought him into the Spirit World...?”

“Is that a rhetorical question, or are you going to answer it?” asked Lomadia. 

“Give me a day or so, I'll figure it out,” said Ridge. “In the meantime...” He reached into his pockets and pulled out the Nether star, scales, and apple. 

Lomadia nodded. “That was fast. You should go put them on the altar so they don't get lost.”

“Right. Tomorrow, I'm going to go to the Twilight Forest and maybe the Spirit World,” said Ridge. “Hopefully get the last bits. And if they don't have any luck finding Xephos, maybe I'll give it a shot.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Lomadia. “Wish I could help, but apparently if you're growing another human you can't do anything fun or exciting or productive.”

“Hey, don't be mad at me,” said Ridge defensively. “Your boyfriend is the one who got you pregnant.”

“Yeah, I'll give him a hard time for it when he wakes up,” she grumbled.

Ridge noticed she said “when” and not “if.”

“Get some rest,” said Ridge. “We'll talk in the morning before I leave.” 

Lomadia nodded, and Ridge left the room. 

**XXX**

Nano woke up and was immediately glad that her vision had returned. A split second later, however, she wished she hadn't opened her eyes. The room spun, and she curled up on her side and gave a sharp dry heave. She would have vomited, but there was nothing in her stomach. It stopped after a minute, and she sat up, looking around for the first time.

She was sitting on a large, comfortable bed with a nest of blankets. The room was dimly lit like a hospital room, and there was a large and comfortable looking armchair next to her bed. It was also freezing cold.

That was when she noticed that she was wearing different clothes. She was wearing a comfortable blue sweater, gray sweatpants, and big fuzzy socks that kept her aching feet warm.

Glancing around, she made sure nobody was in the room. Then she carefully slid off the bed and stood up on shaky legs. She grimaced as a deep ache ran through her, starting at her swollen feet and traveling up her legs and spine. She felt dizzy and sick, but something kept her on her feet. 

She slowly started walking, putting one foot in front of the other and trying to keep her balance. She was beyond dizzy and nauseous, feeling like she was ready to throw up at any second. 

Feeling like she was in a daze, Nano found herself at the door, then in the corridor. She somehow knew the layout of the base, even though she had only been here once before. That felt like it had been a lifetime ago. 

Somehow, she found her way back to the large chamber with all the lights and the hospital bed set up off to the side. In the center of the room stood Lalna, still frozen in flux. 

Glancing around, she noticed her necklace sitting on a nearby table. She picked it up and put it on before turning back to Lalna.

She felt numb, looking at him. He was trapped, and she had no idea how long it would be before he was awake. She glanced at his arm and saw the mutilated skin and muscle beneath the crystals. His hand was still outstretched. 

She reached out and took his hand, trying to find a way to tell him she was there. 

**XXX**

Lalna was being held hostage inside his own mind. He had no power, so Livid was in control, dragging him from one bad memory to another. And Livid was really having fun showing him all the different worlds he was responsible for destroying. Already, Lalna had been forced to relive the Naga attack, seeing Rythian destroy his castle with a poorly aimed nuke, Blackrock, and the war of the Old World. 

When Lalna tried to fight him, Livid made him watch his arm get cut off again. 

“Oh, now this one is one of my favorites,” said Livid as he dragged Lalna along. They stepped forward into another memory, which looked like a shining silver doorway, and the scene unfolded around them. 

All the blood drained from Lalna's face, and he would have gasped if he could breathe. They had jumped into his last memories of the Voltz program and the world where it happened. 

Lalna didn't need to see what was going to happen. He remembered it, and he doubted he would ever forget it. 

_It had started small, like most things. The very first thing Lalna noticed were the occasional headaches, but he quickly wrote those off as a byproduct of exhaustion. The next symptom to surface was nausea, followed by dizziness. He stopped eating soon after when he realized he could hardly keep down a meal._

_This was when Honeydew started to notice something was wrong. He questioned Lalna about why he wasn't eating or sleeping soundly. Lalna was certain that it was just a cold or a virus that was making him feel sick. Nothing to worry about, it'll pass, it's fine..._

_Honeydew kept a close eye on him after that. He started noticing the way Lalna sometimes stumbled when he walked, the way he grimaced at bright lights or when lifting something heavy, the occasional nosebleed. Xephos seemed oblivious until Honeydew pointed it out to him._

_Lalna still didn't see a problem. At least, not until the pain started._

_He woke up in the middle of the night because of the pain. It was radiating across his entire back, especially concentrated just below his shoulder blades. He painfully got up, being as quiet as possible to avoid waking up Honeydew or Xephos._

_He stumbled into the bathroom, breaking out in a cold sweat. He bent over the sink, feeling like he was going to be sick. After a minute, the feeling passed. He looked at himself in the mirror and saw how pale and sleep deprived he looked._

_After a moment, he carefully took off his shirt, grimacing as the fabric ran over his upper back. Then he turned and looked at his back in the mirror._

_The area where the pain was was discolored and seemed bruised. How had that happened? He didn't remember injuring himself lately._

_Hoping that he had simply hit his back or bumped into something, he carefully put his shirt back on and went back to bed._

_The next morning, after a fitful night of sleep, he woke up with more pain in his back than before. It was starting to hurt to breathe._

_Luckily, Xephos and Honeydew were already awake and moving about the compound, so they weren't there to see him struggle to sit up and swear in pain as he put his lab coat on. He found a bottle of pain medicine and quickly swallowed a couple pills. He would have swallowed the whole bottle if he could, but the last thing he wanted to do was overdose and make things worse._

_The pills took the edge off the pain in his back, so he was able to breathe and walk around without grimacing. He met up with Xephos and Honeydew and claimed that he was late because he lost his goggles._

_He spent the rest of the day working normally. He gathered materials for the weapons they wanted to build and the science they wanted to do, and while nobody was looking, he also gathered ingredients for more painkillers._

_That evening, the pills started to wear off, and the pain returned so suddenly that it made him sick. He doubled over and lost whatever food he had managed to eat that day. He had been outside when that happened, but Honeydew and Xephos heard him. They were at his side a second later, asking him what happened and if he was okay._

_He told them his stomach virus had probably relapsed, and he should probably go back to bed. They tried to help him, but he insisted he was okay, and all he needed was to sleep it off. As soon as he was back in his room, he swallowed more pills and went to sleep, where his mind was plagued with fevered dreams and delirium._

_When he woke up the next morning, he was in twice as much pain as he had been the day before. He was shaky and pale, and he had a fever. Just before he could reach for his pills, however, Xephos entered the room._

_He told Lalna that he had been muttering in his sleep and it looked like he was having trouble breathing._

_Lalna, however, insisted that he was okay now, and that he had been having a nightmare. Xephos wasn't convinced, and he suggested that Lalna stay in bed and try to recover._

_Of course, Lalna ignored him. As soon as Xephos left the room, Lalna swallowed more pills and got dressed. This time, the pills didn't quite diminish the pain like they had the day before. He still had to bite his tongue to keep from grimacing as he walked. There was nothing to be done about how pale and sick he looked, but he didn't care. He wanted to keep working._

_A week passed this way. Every day the pain got worse. He couldn't eat without getting sick, and he could barely hold down water. His fever got worse every day, and the pills did nothing to help keep it down. He even made fever medicine, but that barely made a dent._

_Xephos and Honeydew were keeping a close eye on him. They knew he was sick – even without the symptoms it was clear by the pallor of his skin – but they didn't know exactly what was wrong. He refused to tell them. He kept telling them that it was okay and he just had the flu and that it would pass any day now._

_That very same evening, he was on the roof working on a new radar system when the pain hit him like a truck. He collapsed and could barely move. He couldn't make a sound or call for help._

_He was paralyzed on the roof for only five minutes before Xephos came upstairs to check on him, alerted by the quiet. He screamed, and Honeydew came running. Between the two of them, they managed to get Lalna back downstairs as safely and painlessly as possible._

_Honeydew asked him where the pain was, and Lalna finally told them it was on his back. Xephos had pulled off his lab coat but stopped when he saw the blood staining the back of Lalna's shirt._

_They had no choice but to cut his shirt away, and to their horror they found that his entire back seemed to be bleeding and oozing and the skin was peeling away from the flesh. It was a horrible yellow and green and purple, and the wounds oozed pus and blood. It looked like his back was beginning to decay._

_Lalna thought back. The only reason this would happen would be because of radiation poisoning, which took years to set in. Unless..._

_He thought back to when they raided Ridge's base and it self destructed. He had stepped on a poison spike on the way out, just before the blast of radiation had catapulted him into the air._

_In that moment of terror, he realized that the poison had somehow catalyzed a reaction and enhanced the radiation, accelerating it and causing this rapid decay._

_Xephos and Honeydew had started to panic, asking what could be done and if there was a cure and how long this would take to kill him. He told them he didn't know how long it would take, but he knew there was nothing to be done._

_They did their best to help him. As per his request, they took some of the medical equipment they had stolen from Ridge and set up a hospital bed in the main machine room, that way he could still help while not having to walk around or exert himself. He couldn't wear a shirt – it hurt too much and it got bloody anyways – so he would always be sitting on the edge of his bed with nothing but stained bandages wrapped around his chest and upper shoulders where the decay had spread. There was constantly an IV drip hooked into his arm – it was the only way to keep him hydrated. Every few hours, he would get up and walk around, rolling the drip stand with him and fiddling with the machines while collecting bits for new things to build._

_His supply of pain medicine quickly dwindled. As the days went on, he walked around less and less, resolving to explaining to Xephos how to fix the machines and giving Honeydew specific details of what plants to gather so he could make more medicine._

_Then one day, Lalna didn't wake up._

_Honeydew checked and made sure he was still breathing, and he was, but he wouldn't wake up. They took turns keeping an eye on him. He didn't wake up until the following afternoon._

_That was when he told his friends that he couldn't feel his legs anymore. Not only that, but he was sick beyond belief and too weak to sit upright on his own. His fever burned stronger than ever, and he could only manage to stay awake for a few hours at a time._

_Then one night, after Lalna had fallen into a fitful fevered sleep, Xephos took Honeydew aside and told him he had a plan. Honeydew agreed that it was a good plan, and it would almost certainly work, but Lalna wouldn't want to go through with it._

_When Lalna woke up, they went up to him, looking sad._

_“Lalna... we need to leave.”_

_He had known instantly what they meant, but he pretended he didn't._

_He asked them where they would be going, but as he feared, they explained that all three of them needed to leave this world behind._

_He had been devastated. Of all the worlds they had stumbled across, this had been his favorite, full of nothing but science and the occasional nuke. The only war that happened was planned, probably by Ridge, who was only there initially to stir up trouble._

_So he stalled, not wanting to go just yet, even though Xephos and Honeydew were ready to leave. However, the longer he waited, the sicker he became. He started coughing up blood, and breathing became painful. He lost all feeling in his legs because the infection had destroyed his lower spine._

_But it was what happened after another week that made him agree to leave._

_He woke up one morning and he couldn't see. He had called out, and he heard his friends come to his side._

_Tears in his sightless eyes, he finally agreed to leave._

_Honeydew left first, and Xephos waited for Lalna. When they had all landed in a new world, Lalna had returned to full health, able to walk and see and breathe. He had left his dying body behind and exchanged it for a new one. And even though he was healed and no longer in pain, he couldn't help but feel sad that he would never be able to set foot in the world where they had initiated the Voltz program without dying in agony._

“Good times,” said Livid as he pulled Lalna back out of the memory. He started to talk, but Lalna wasn't listening. He was wondering why he hadn't tried to use Ender magic to heal himself of the radiation poisoning. A second later, however, he remembered that at that point, he still didn't have complete control over the Enderbeast.

Unfortunately, he forgot that they were inside his mind, and Livid could hear everything he was thinking as if he were saying it out loud.

“Oh, I almost forgot about the Enderbeast!” he exclaimed. “Take a look at this.”

Livid waved his hand, and a silver mist appeared out of the darkness.

“What is this...?” asked Lalna quietly.

“It's not a memory,” said Livid, smiling menacingly. “It's what could have happened if you'd transformed while you were fluxed...”

Lalna stared in horror at the mist, and images appeared. He saw the Enderbeast, but it was covered in purple crystals jutting out at painful angles. It looked out of control, attacking everything it could.

He saw it attacking a person. He couldn't tell who it was, but he could see flux rapidly spreading from the wounds the Enderbeast had inflicted. 

He watched in horror as the Enderbeast destroyed everything in it's path, the flux making it unstable and uncontrollable. It killed some and infected others.

And then a tiny figure appeared in front of it, and it stopped. Even though the person was just a silhouette in the mist, Lalna knew it was Nano. Tiny, determined Nano facing an uncontrollable fluxed Enderbeast all alone. 

The Enderbeast took a step towards her, but Lalna never got to see what happened next. Livid quickly waved his hand and the mist disappeared, along with the images. 

“See?” he said. “It's a good thing you died, or this might have happened. You could have easily killed everybody you love.”

Lalna didn't respond. He simply stared into the dark space around him, his eyes unfocused. He felt empty, shocked at what could have happened. He felt Livid grab his arm and drag him further into the darkness.

Something appeared on the horizon, but Lalna didn't realize it until they were right at it.

A shattered golden wall stretched as far as he could see. It floated seemingly by itself, all of the broken pieces floating in place as if they had been frozen in time. 

Livid smiled. “Buckle up. We're going past the block.”

**XXX**

Ridge quietly walked into Nano's room, carrying a bowl of hot tomato soup. It may have been a bit late, but he knew she still hadn't eaten anything.

Then he realized she wasn't in her bed. He looked across the room and saw the bathroom door was open, so she wasn't in there. 

Setting the soup down on the bedside table, he turned and left the room, heading for the chamber where Lalna was. Sure enough, Nano was there. She had fallen asleep leaning against Lalna's leg. 

Ridge walked over and carefully picked her up, grimacing a bit at a slight twinge in his chest. He carried Nano back to her room and put her in bed, pulling the blankets over her to keep her warm. As he turned to leave, however, she stirred and woke up.

“Ridge...?” she asked quietly.

He turned around and smiled at her. “I brought you something in case you were hungry,” he said, sitting down next to the bed and gesturing to the soup.

Nano glanced at it and turned a pale shade of green.

“Oh,” said Ridge, realizing that tomato soup might be too thick for someone with an upset stomach. “Here, I can change it.” He waved his hand over the soup, which turned into a much lighter chicken noodle soup. 

“That's better,” said Nano, reaching over and taking the bowl. 

“So... how do you feel?” asked Ridge after Nano had eaten some of the soup. 

“Still pretty shit, but it's a bit better now,” said Nano between slow spoonfuls of soup.

“Well, you _are_ still recovering from an extended stasis,” said Ridge. “It'll take a while for all the side effects to go away.”

“It feels like I've got the flu,” Nano mumbled, setting the bowl on the table. “But I don't have a fever, so it can't be a virus.”

“Well,” said Ridge quickly, “the best way to feel better is to sleep. It's late, so you should probably lie down and relax. I'll make sure everything is okay.”

“What about Lalna?” she asked. “When will he be awake?”

“Soon, I promise,” said Ridge. “I've got half the stuff I need to wake him up.”

“Only half...?”

Ridge sighed. “Look, I know this is rough on you, but you have to trust me. I'm going to do whatever I can to save him.”

Nano was quiet. She laid back and pulled her blankets tightly around her, staring at the ceiling. 

“I don't think I've ever seen you care so much,” she finally said, looking over at Ridge. 

“Yeah, it's a pretty bad habit,” muttered Ridge, staring at the floor. 

Nano smiled “You care about him as much as I do. I trust you.”

Ridge cracked a smile. “Go to sleep,” he said, standing and ruffling Nano's hair. “We'll talk in the morning.”

Then he turned and left the room.


	5. Where the Forest Ends

When Nano woke up the next morning, she glanced around the room and saw Lomadia sitting in the chair next to her bed. She looked distressed.

“Lomadia...?” asked Nano, her voice quiet and tired. “Are you okay?”

Lomadia jumped a bit and looked up at Nano. “Oh, you're awake! How do you feel? Do you need anything?”

Nano narrowed her eyes and propped herself up on her elbow. “What's wrong with you?”

Lomadia looked like she was about to lie, but she didn't have the energy. She sighed and slumped back in her chair.

“They found Xephos,” she said quietly.

Nano stared at her. “What do you mean...?”

“Didn't anybody tell you?” asked Lomadia, looking up at her. “Xephos went into a coma. He's dying, and we can't wake him up. Honeydew and Nilesy went to the Spirit World to look for his soul, and they found it.”

“Isn't that a good thing then?” asked Nano, closing her eyes for a second as a mild wave of nausea came over her. It wasn't enough to make her sick though.

“They couldn't get to him,” said Lomadia, staring down at her hands, which were clenched tightly in her lap. “They said something was physically blocking them from getting to him and waking him up, and when they tried to get past the barrier it incinerated them and woke them up. They just told me about it an hour ago.”

“Well, is there anything we can do to-” 

She stopped and doubled over as the nausea suddenly intensified. She grabbed the bucket sitting on the bedside table and threw up the remains of the soup she ate the night before.

“Fuck!” she loudly exclaimed a second later when the fit passed. “Why am I still throwing up?! Almost all the other symptoms are gone...” 

She sat up, planning on going to the bathroom to wash out her mouth, but Lomadia put a hand on her shoulder.

“Maybe that's not such a good idea...” she said cautiously.

“Why?” exclaimed Nano, angrily swatting Lomadia's hand away. She made to stand up, but a wave of dizziness overcame her and washed away both her balance and her anger. She nearly tipped forward off her bed, but Lomadia caught her and sat her upright. 

“Are you okay?” she asked quietly.

Nano sighed, suddenly feeling weary. “What's wrong with me...?” she asked quietly.

Lomadia looked at her sadly before taking a step back.

“Have I introduced you to my little friend yet?” she asked, pulling her shirt tight so that her bump was visible. 

Nano looked for a second before her eyes widened and she gasped. She pointed at Lomadia's stomach. “Who did that to you?!” 

Lomadia laughed, running her hand over her belly. “Yeah, it was a bit of a surprise. Although, I feel like I should have seen the signs earlier. I suddenly felt tired all the time, I kept throwing up, my feet were all swollen and achy, and I kept having these mood swings where I'd be angry and shouting one second, then crying the next. None of it made sense until I realized I had a passenger.” 

As Lomadia spoke, the color slowly drained out of Nano's face, and her eyes lost focus. Lomadia saw her mouth moving a bit – she was counting. 

Suddenly, Nano snapped back into reality, a look of horror and realization on her face.

“Oh gods...” she whispered, her hands drifting to her stomach. “I'm pregnant...”

**XXX**

Lalna stood still, his mind numb as he watched his past self at work in a large laboratory under the Desert of the Living Sands. Xephos and Honeydew had told him stories about this place and the horrors it held, and now he was forced to watch as he created those horrors.

“Now, the funny thing is,” said Livid, who was standing with his arm casually thrown around Lalna's shoulders, “you were the one who invented and perfected the art of cloning. Oh, watch this!”

Lalna watched as several large guards burst into his lab and seized him. Israphel followed them in and began talking about how Lalna had betrayed him by purposely giving him faulty weapons and bombs and sabotaging missions. He saw his past self stick a concealed needle into his leg and inject himself with poison in an attempt at suicide. Israphel lunged forward and put him in stasis before the poison could kill him. 

“In a few weeks, Ridge finds you and saves your life, using his own blood,” explained Livid as they followed the memories through the door. “Then he looks into your mind and sees all of these horrible memories, figures you would be better with a fresh start, and puts the block on your mind.”

They had followed the memories into the cloning chambers, and Lalna watched them shove his body into one of the machines. It started to pump out clones.

“Those clones won't survive,” said Lalna quietly.

“You're right,” said Livid. “After a few weeks, all of your clones begin to rapidly decay because of the poison you injected yourself with. They lose their higher brain functions and become nothing more than zombies with goggles. A few of them nearly killed your friends when they found this base later.”

Lalna stepped over to his past self, looking him over. He had been much thinner, his face pale and hollow and his eyes sunken. His hair had been shorter too. When was the last time he cut it? And was that poison the reason his eyes were toxic green? 

“It's funny,” said Lalnable, interrupting Lalna's train of thought. “You invented the cloning machines and all of these weapons in a secret and dangerous underground base... You basically invented YogLabs.”

“I knew there was a reason I hated that place from the start...” muttered Lalna, averting his eyes as one of his newly zombified clones attacked somebody.

“While you were working here, everybody just called you the Doctor,” said Livid, looking bored. “Nobody here knew your real name, and everybody who did was dead. I believe this was the first time you started using your new name.”

“My new name...?” asked Lalna quietly.

“Yeah,” said Livid. “You didn't think Lalna was the name you were born with, did you? I mean, it's close... all you have to do is rearrange some of the letters and get rid of the rest...” 

Lalna turned and looked at Livid. “What was my real name?” he asked.

Livid smiled. “Just enjoy the ride. We'll get there in the end.”

Then he grabbed Lalna and dragged him off. 

**XXX**

Ridge landed in the Overworld the second the sun broke the horizon. He was eager, not only because he was about to obtain two more of the items needed to save Lalna, but he was also glad to be back in the Overworld, even if it was for a short time. When he was away for too long, his magic stopped regenerating, making him feel weak and sick. Even now he was running a bit of a fever. 

After taking a moment to soak up the energy radiating from the air and the ground, he took flight and began to search for a good location far enough away from the bio-lock. 

It felt so good to fly freely again. After all, he was, at his core, a sky spirit. Age 18 was a place for winter spirits or earth spirits. 

After some time, he found a good secluded location. Touching down and feeling ten times better, he quickly set up a portal to the Twilight Forest. He stood back and tossed in a diamond, and the portal was lit.

He took one last deep breath of energy-infused Overworld air before jumping into the portal and being plunged into icy blackness.

Something wasn't right. 

Ridge's eyes snapped open and he looked around. He seemed to be suspended between the two ends of the portal. Above him, he could see the light of the Overworld, and below him, he could see the starry sky of the Forest. Everything else was darkness with stars scattered about. 

“Oh, Ridge...” a voice suddenly rang out through the darkness. “You're trying so hard to save them...”

Ridge recognized the deep menacing voice. 

“What are you up to?” he asked the darkness. “What's with the Bedrock zombies?”

“Oh, you got my gift?” 

“What is going on?” demanded Ridge. 

“Well, the storm mage protected all of the portal walls, so I can't show you.”

“Israphel...” he growled, “if you don't let me through the portal, I'll-”

“You'll what?” interrupted Israphel. “Banish me to the Void? Oh wait, you've already done that.”

Ridge narrowed his eyes. He was starting to feel the cold of the Void creeping past all of the protections Kirin had set up.

He heard Israphel groan. “Ugh, this place drains my power like you wouldn't believe. I've been hugging bedrock to stay alive. Although, I bet if you banished somebody with a Void spirit here, they'd become more powerful. And speaking of power, you're running out. Been spending too much time in that pocket dimension?”

“I may not be at full power, but I'm still more powerful than you,” snapped Ridge. “Now let me go.”

He could have sworn he heard Israphel chuckle.

“As you wish.”

A split second later, Ridge found himself on his knees in the Forest, next to the portal. He staggered to his feet and looked around. Close by was an enormous tree that seemed to touch the stars. In the other direction, he could see a valley filled with trees, and several large mountains a bit further past them. He knew the trees could hide a clearing where a Naga would spawn, and the mountains looked like the perfect place to find a Hydra or two. 

He took one step towards the mountains when the bushes nearby began to rustle. He froze, expecting a monster or an animal to emerge.

But it wasn't an animal.

It was Rythian. 

They stared at each other for a few seconds. Then Rythian spoke.

“Come quick,” he said, his voice cracking. Then he turned and sprinted back the way he came. Ridge immediately followed him. 

Rythian led him to the giant tree and through a hidden entrance. Inside the hollow tree was a large spiral staircase, and they ran up it all the way to the top. 

Ridge realized this must be his base. Built into the top of the large tree was a house that stretched out across the branches, as if the structure itself had grown from the tree.

Rythian led Ridge through a few hallways and into a large and well lit room. Ridge was shocked when he saw Zoeya laying in a bed against the far wall, unconscious and so pale she looked dead. 

Running over, he did a quick scan to see what was wrong. She was running a fever, and she was experiencing massive internal bleeding. He pulled the blanket back and lifted her shirt, seeing that her lower abdomen was badly swollen and heavily bruised from all the blood beneath her skin. What could have caused this?! 

Shaking his head a bit, he gently put his hands on her stomach, and his eyes began to glow gold. A minute later, he felt her fever going down, and the internal bleeding had stopped. Her stomach was still swollen and bruised, but it would fade. She began to breathe easier.

He sat back, grimacing and holding his breath as a sharp pain shot through his chest. It faded after a moment, but he couldn't help but thing about what Israphel had said. That he was using too much power without regenerating it. That he was burning himself out. 

Then he suddenly became aware that Rythian was standing right behind him. 

“She's going to be okay,” said Ridge, standing and turning to face Rythian. “Give her a week or two, and she'll fully recover.” 

He expected Rythian to thank him. He didn't expect Rythian to lunge forward and hug him. 

“Thank you...” he stammered, stepping back and quickly wiping the tears out of his bloodshot eyes. 

“Are you okay?” asked Ridge quietly. He had never seen Rythian so shaken before. 

“You saved her...” he whispered. “We... we would have been all alone...”

Ridge raised an eyebrow. “We...?”

Suddenly, a tiny cry came from the corner of the room. Ridge looked up and noticed something he hadn't seen when he rushed into the room. A crib made of a large ribcage and furs and vines sat in the corner of the room. 

Rythian walked over to it and reached inside, lifting out a tiny baby wrapped in a bundle of blankets.

“This, uh... this is our son,” said Rythian, gently rocking the little bundle of blankets. “His name's Ender... Zoeya name him.” 

Ridge stared at the baby for a moment before looking back up at Rythian. “When exactly was he born...?”

“Just a few hours ago...” said Rythian, glancing down at his son. “Why?”

“The last time I saw you was a _year_ ago, and Zoeya was only three months pregnant,” said Ridge quietly. “This baby should have been born six months ago.”

Rythian stared at him. “We've only been here for six months...” 

Ridge nodded. “Right... I forgot that time moves differently throughout the dimensions... Time moves at half speed here.”

“So we should probably leave soon then?” asked Rythian.

Ridge nodded. “Yeah, just don't stay here for more than a few more months unless you want Lomadia and Nano's kids to be older than yours.”

“WHAT?!” exclaimed Rythian, a bit too loud. Ender immediately began to cry, and all of Rythian's attention was focused on calming him down. 

Then there was a slight groan from across the room. They both looked over and saw that Zoeya had woken up.

Rythian was at her side in an instant. 

“Are you okay?” he asked her. “How do you feel?”

“Better...” she muttered sleepily. Then she seemed to wake up fully. “Actually, a lot better. What happened?”

Rythian gestured to Ridge, who was standing awkwardly in the center of the room. 

Zoeya smiled and pulled herself into a sitting position, grimacing a bit as she did so. She reached up and took her crying baby from Rythian, and it instantly seemed to calm down. 

“Well, if it isn't the big dog himself,” said Zoeya, smiling. Already a bit of color had returned to her cheeks. “What are you doing here, Ridge?”

“It's a bit of a long story,” said Ridge, glancing around. “There was an accident involving flux and a nuclear explosion, so I'm trying to collect the ingredients to fix the problem.”

“What ingredients do you need?” asked Zoeya. “We might have some already.”

“All I need from here are Naga scales and Hydra blood,” said Ridge. 

“Hold on,” said Rythian. He left the room and came back a few seconds later. “We've got Naga scales, but no Hydra blood.” He handed the scales to Rythian.

“We do, however, know the exact location of a very pesky Hydra,” said Zoeya, a mischievous smile creeping onto her face. 

Rythian nodded. “The lair is pretty much on the other side of the tree from where I found you. Just go around the tree and aim for the only mountain within miles.” 

Ridge nodded. “The portal back home is also right near your tree. But uh... be careful going through it. I just had a bit of an encounter on my way here.” 

“We'll head home as soon as Zoeya is back at full strength,” said Rythian. Zoeya nodded, glancing down at the now sleeping infant in her arms. 

Ridge smiled at them, trying not to let the deep aching sadness he was feeling show. “Good luck,” he said quietly. “And... congratulations.”

Then he turned and left.

Sure enough, he found the Hydra's lair only minutes after leaving the tree. The beast inside was sleeping, smoke drifting out of it's nostrils. 

Taking a deep breath, Ridge prepared his magic, fully conscious that he didn't have much to spare, seeing as he had spent the past two and a half weeks constantly shielding the mountain as well as using his magic as normal. He knew, however, that if his plan worked, he would barely have to use any magic to get the Hydra blood.

Stepping forward, he let out a sharp whistle, which was much easier with his newly chipped tooth. The Hydra sprung to life, jumping to it's feet with surprising agility. As soon as it was up, however, Ridge waved his hand, and all three of the heads were encased in glowing gold bubbles, freezing them in place.

Ridge staggered a bit and dropped to his knees, another sharp pain shooting through his chest. He really was running low on magic.

Stumbling to his feet, he looked up at the Hydra.

“Don't worry boys,” he said as he took out a glass jar and a large needle. “I just need a bit of blood.”

The head in the center tried to shoot fire at him, but the fire simply bounced off the inside of the stationary bubble and hit it in the nose. 

Ridge walked under the heads and stood next to one of the giant legs. He had never been this close to a live Hydra before. He could hear it's massive hearts beating.

“Alright, hold still,” he said as he approached the leg and searched for a good place to draw blood. 

He was so focused on trying to draw blood and maintain the magic that he didn't notice what the heads were doing. The left and right head look at the middle one, who made a slight clicking sound. Then it started to breathe as much fire as it could, charring itself to a crisp.

The middle head died a second later, and the neck became detached. Instead of falling to the ground, however, it stood up and split down the middle, forming two necks. Two separate and now fully free heads grew. They looked at each other, made a few clicking noises, and then turned to Ridge, who was standing unaware just below them. 

Ridge was trying to get the needle through a particularly tough patch of scales, but they didn't want to budge. He looked a bit further up the leg, though, and he saw that just two feet above him was a patch of loose scales. 

He reached his right arm up.

Then one of the free Hydra heads swung down and grabbed his arm.

A searing pain shot through his arm and shoulder, and before he could react, he was being shaken like a chew tow. He felt something in his shoulder snap, and a moment later he had been flung through the air. He hit the ground hard a few hundred feet away from the Hydra lair.

Dazed, he glanced to his right to see the damage the Hydra had done to his arm.

But his arm wasn't there anymore. It had been torn off at the shoulder. He looked back in time to see one of the middle heads swallow the rest of his arm. The golden bubbles had dissolved, and now the Hydra was free. 

Suddenly, a horrible burning pain shot through his body and localized itself in his empty shoulder joint. He screamed as a burst of gold light shot out of his shoulder and formed the shape of an arm.

He realized what was happening too late. His body was regrowing the arm, but it needed more power. His hearts all began to beat in sync, pounding away in his chest, and he felt like his blood was on fire as an excessive amount of magic ran through it. His eyes flashed gold. 

He had triggered God Mode. 

Most of his magic became dedicated to regrowing his arm, but the rest was his to use. He slowly stood and took flight. Then he shot towards the Hydra. Everything after that was a blur. He caught glimpses of what was happening – he saw himself blinding one of the heads – but he couldn't stay focused long enough. 

When he came back to his senses a few minutes later, he found himself hovering over the remains of the Hydra, which had essentially been ripped in half. In his hand he held several vials of Hydra blood, which he stored safely in his inventory. 

He drifted away from the remains of the Hydra and carefully touched down. He took a single shaky breath and slipped out of God Mode. Then he collapsed, and the world around him faded away. 

**XXX**

_“Ridge...? Can you hear me....? You're going to be okay...”_

The voice echoed through Ridge's head, and he slowly blinked his eyes open. His vision was blurry, and he was seeing double. The sky above him was bright – he was no longer in the Forest. There was somebody sitting next to him. 

Slowly, as he came to his senses, he realized there was a cold cloth on his forehead, and the person sitting next to him was carefully dripping water into his mouth. His chest hurt, and he realized that his middle heart had stopped beating. The left one was fine, if fast, and the right one was fluttering weakly as if it had just restarted. 

He closed his eyes, and he must have lost consciousness again, because when he opened his eyes the sun had significantly moved across the sky. It was now late afternoon. He could see again, and the pain in his chest had faded. He felt that all of his hearts were working again. 

He heard somebody talking to him again, trying to get him to wake up. He looked around and his eyes finally focused on Rythian.

“W-what happened...” coughed Ridge.

“I was keeping an eye on you from our base,” said Rythian. “I couldn't quite see what happened, but you killed the Hydra and collapsed. I brought you back though the portal because my magic doesn't work in the Forest, but you started healing on your own.”

Ridge carefully sat up and glanced at his arm. The sleeve of his shirt and jacket were gone, but his arm had perfectly regrown and was identical to the one he had lost, down to the last scar. Regrowing it had nearly killed him though. 

“How long was I unconscious?” asked Ridge.

“Almost all day,” said Rythian. “It was morning when we got here.” 

“Did anything happen when we went through the portal?” 

Rythian shook his head. “Nothing.” 

Ridge nodded and forced himself to stand, but he nearly fell back over. Rythian caught him and held him upright.

“I'm fine,” said Ridge, finding his balance. He felt dizzy and sick. 

“Are you sure?” asked Rythian. “You're still running a high fever.”

“It'll pass,” said Ridge. “Uh... thanks for saving me.”

Rythian smiled. “I uh... I better get back to Zoeya.”

Ridge nodded. “Good luck.”

Then they parted ways.

**XXX**

Ridge walked back to the bio-lock, trying to give himself as much time to recharge as possible. When he returned to Age 18 two hours later, he immediately began to feel sick again. His fever still hadn't broken. 

When he returned to the mountain, however, he realized something.

He ran to Xephos' room, scaring Honeydew and Nilesy when he burst in. Lyndon had been sitting on Honeydew's head, and he jumped several feet in the air.

“Sorry,” said Ridge as he walked over to Xephos. He bent over him and examined him closely.

“Is everything okay?” asked Honeydew cautiously. 

“What did you guys see in the Spirit World when you found him?” asked Ridge quickly.

“Well, he was encased in a sort of bubble of orange glass,” explained Nilesy. “He was just floating there, looking like he was sleeping, but...”

“But what?”

“Well,” said Honeydew, “he had this... _thing_ around his neck. We couldn't really see what it was, and when we tried to get a closer look, the glass got really hot and sort of... turned us to ash.”

Ridge went pale. “The thing around his neck... did it look like a collar...?”

“I guess it kind of did,” said Nilesy quietly.

Ridge shook his head. “This is bad...” he muttered.

“What's wrong?” asked Honeydew.

“It's Israphel,” said Ridge. “Israphel is holding Xephos hostage in the Spirit World.”


	6. Nightmares

Lalna was humming again. The last memory they had seen had really gotten to him, so he was quietly humming the Endermother's lullaby to calm himself down.

Livid hated it. 

He glanced back at Lalna, who was staring at his feet with a distant expression. Lalna knew that Livid was getting angry, but he didn't care. He was sure Livid wouldn't be able to show him anything worse than what he had seen the Enderbeast do. 

Suddenly, with a sharp growl, Livid grabbed Lalna by the throat and dragged him to the side. Another memory appeared, but this one was different. It was shrouded, like somebody had thrown a sheet over it. 

“You thought it couldn't get worse?” snarled Livid. He shoved Lalna into the memory.

Lalna looked around, but everything was blurry and distorted.

“What is this? Why does it look like this?” asked Lalna, spinning in a circle to get a full view of where the memory was. It looked like a small auditorium with an empty stage at the far end of the room. 

“It looks like this because you repressed this memory,” grumbled Livid. “I don't even know what happened in this one, but it looks like you killed somebody.”

Lalna looked at where he was pointing, and he saw unmistakable blond hair and a white lab coat. Even his past self was too blurry to make out the details, but as Lalna stepped closer he could see that he was holding a body. All he could see were the colors – red hair, a blue dress, something silver and bloodstained lodged in her stomach. Who was this girl? Had she been important to him? She must have been by the way he was holding her. How did she die?

“I don't know the details,” said Livid, “but this was the moment you truly became a villain... I'm not surprised you repressed it.” 

Lalna quietly stepped back, and the memory disappeared. 

“You shouldn't worry too much about that one,” said Livid, much happier now that Lalna was suffering again. “You've been doing evil stuff since you were young.”

Before Lalna could say anything, Livid had grabbed his arm and dragged him into another memory. It was dark here, but the night was lit by a large building that was completely engulfed in flames. Lalna could see people running out screaming.

Then with a stab of horror, he realized the people running out of the building were children. 

Looking around, he spotted himself among the crowd of people that had gathered. He must have been no older than seven. He was smaller than most of the other children, and like them, he was covered in soot and burns. His left leg was bleeding heavily – Lalna had always wondered how he'd gotten those old faded scars. 

The other kids were screaming and crying, but not him. He simply stood there, watching the flames consume the building. 

Then he smiled.

Lalna staggered backwards, suddenly desperate to get away from the child. He felt Livid's hand on his shoulder. 

“The building you burned down was an orphanage,” he explained. “You had only been there for a month and a half, and you were bullied every day because of how small and sickly you were. All of your bullies died in this fire, but there was something strange about it. Their burnt corpses were found tied to their beds. They all had gags so nobody could hear them screaming and save them.”

Lalna closed his eyes, feeling lightheaded. A second later, he dropped to his knees, feeling like he was going to be sick. The screams disappeared, but they still echoed in his ears. 

“Y'know...” said Livid quietly, “that wasn't the first time you killed somebody.”

He pulled Lalna to his feet, and they continued on. 

**XXX**

Nano lay flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling of her room. She kept running her hand over her stomach, trying to see if she could feel anything. 

A minute later, there was a small knock on the door.

“What...?” she asked, her voice monotonous. 

The door opened, and she looked over to see Ridge walk in. She was shocked by how pale and sick he looked. 

“Are you okay?” she asked, sitting up and turning to face him. 

“Yeah, I'm fine,” said Ridge. “Just going through a bit of an energy deficiency right now. How about you? How are you doing?” 

Nano shrugged, crossing her arms over her stomach. “I'm a bit better now that I actually know what's wrong...”

“Well, I wouldn't exactly say there's anything _wrong_ with you...” said Ridge, smiling a bit. “You're pregnant, not dying.” 

Nano glanced down at her hands. “It doesn't actually feel like anything's there...” she muttered. 

Ridge shrugged. “Just give it another month or two and you'll start to show. Give it another few months and it'll actually start kicking you.” 

Nano raised an eyebrow, wondering how Ridge knew so much about this stuff. 

“Is that why you saved me instead of Lalna...?” she asked quietly. 

Slowly, Ridge nodded. “Babies don't usually do well in stasis. They can last for a while, but if they're left static for too long they'll spontaneously die and take the mother with them. I checked, and you and your baby are both fine.” 

“Thanks for that...” muttered Nano, “but what about Lalna? He's injured and dying. How much longer can he last?” 

“Well, he won't have to last much longer,” said Ridge. “I'm about to go get the last two ingredients, but I wanted to stop by and check on you first.” 

“Where do you have to go to get them?” asked Nano. 

“The Spirit World,” said Ridge, suddenly looking anxious. 

“What do you need from there?”

“Spirit dust and a brew of flowing spirits.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Nano. “We have a base in the Spirit World. It's in a flooded village, and it's got all the ingredients to make a brew of flowing spirits. Do you know the recipe?”

Ridge nodded. “A flooded village?”

“It's really easy to find,” said Nano, nodding. “As for the spirit dust, I can't help you there.”

Ridge shrugged. “I'll figure something out.”

Nano smiled. “Good luck.”

Ridge nodded and left the room. 

A few minutes later, he arrived in Xephos' room, where Lomadia stood waiting for him. Honeydew and Nilesy were also there, but Nilesy left to go keep Nano company. 

“Okay, here's the deal,” said Lomadia. She held up something small and blue. “This is an icy needle. Put this in your pocket, you'll need it if you want to willingly wake up.”

She put the needle in his hand, and it was cold. He put it in his shirt pocket, since he couldn't use his one-armed jacket anymore. Maybe he would give it to Lalna. 

Lomadia held up a small bottle. “Sleeping potion. You drink it, you drop, so sit down first. As soon as you drink it, your mind will be sent to the Spirit World. Honeydew and Nilesy were lucky, but you'll probably have to deal with Nightmares. If you can kill them, you can get spirit dust from them.”

“Nano said she and Lalna had already set up a base,” mentioned Ridge. “They've got everything there for the potion.” 

Lomadia nodded. “Good, one less thing to worry about.”

“You seem frantic.”

“I want to go with you and look for Xephos,” she said quickly. 

“I don't think that's a good idea.”

“Yes, I know. That's why you shouldn't fuck this up.”

Ridge nodded. “I'll do my best. You know I will, right?”

Lomadia sighed and glanced at Honeydew, who gave her a small nod. 

“Alright,” she said, handing the potion to Ridge. “Good luck.”

Ridge nodded, and instantly forgot that Lomadia told him to sit down first. He drank the potion, but instead of falling asleep instantly, he cried out and doubled over as a sharp pain ripped through his chest and stomach. 

Lomadia and Honeydew grabbed his arms and lowered him to the ground.

“What the hell is wrong with him?” exclaimed Honeydew.

“No idea,” exclaimed Lomadia, grabbing one of the spare oxygen tanks and putting a mask over Ridge's face. That was all they could do for him. He struggled for a few more minutes before finally falling asleep. 

Lomadia and Honeydew sat there for a minute. Then Lomadia reached up and grabbed a stethoscope from the table. Honeydew moved Ridge onto his back, and Lomadia listened to his hearts.

“Uh oh...” she muttered. 

“What is it?” asked Honeydew.

“Well... you know how he has three hearts?”

“I do now.”

“Yeah... only one of them is working.” 

“Oh... that is bad... Is that why he looks... y'know... dead?”

Lomadia nodded. “I have no idea what happened... Guess we'll just have to wait for him to wake up.”

**XXX**

Ridge gasped and opened his eyes, looking around. It was dark here, and the air was imbued with cold Void magic. He could see things moving in the shadows.

Taking a deep and painful breath, he started to run. He could hear things chasing him, but he was weaponless and powerless. 

After several minutes, he spotted the angular shapes of buildings silhouetted against the black night sky. Sure enough, the village was flooded, and next to one of the only buildings that had escaped the waters was a kettle with a fire still crackling underneath it. There was a chest next to it full of ingredients, and a sword was sitting on top of the chest.

Ridge picked up the sword and whipped around only to come face to face with a pitch black shadow. It lashed out at him, and he stabbed at it with his sword. 

The Nightmare teleported away, and Ridge turned back to the potion. He had memorized the recipe, and he got halfway through it before the Nightmare returned and raked it's claws across his back. 

He screamed and whipped around, again landing a solid hit and sending the Nightmare running. 

Bleeding heavily from his back, he turned around again and finished the potion. He had just scooped out a bottle full of the brew when the Nightmare returned for a final time. He heard it teleport in behind him, and just before it could attack him, he whipped around and stabbed it in the face, killing it. It exploded into a pile of spirit dust, which he scooped up and kept it safely in his inventory.

Ignoring the pain in his back and chest, he took a deep breath. He had everything he needed to save Lalna. Now it was time to focus on Xephos.

Ridge tried to use his magic, but nothing happened. That was when he realized that two of his hearts had stopped.

And then he heard it. He thought it was the wind at first, or maybe an animal, but then he realized it was the sound of crying.

His breath caught in his throat. He recognized the crying. 

“It can't be...” he whispered, looking around.

Because his guard was down, he didn't notice the ghostly form of Israphel appear behind him. Then Israphel grabbed him by the throat and dragged him back. Ridge didn't realize what was happening until Israphel forced him underwater and held him there.

Ridge panicked instantly. He started thrashing and struggling, but Israphel's cold hand wouldn't let go. Ridge started to get tunnel vision, and his lungs were burning. His head was throbbing and his panic rendered him hysterical. He couldn't hold his breath anymore.

Only a minute later, his vision faded, and he stopped struggling. He went limp as water filled his lungs.

A split second later, he sat up and screamed. He was beyond the point of panic, but the cool oxygen coming from the mask on his face helped.

Lomadia appeared in front of him, and the next thing he knew, he was crying and hyperventilating. He felt Lomadia pull him into a hug, and they sat like that until the panic attack ended. 

“It's okay...” she whispered, holding him close. “It's okay...”


	7. Back to Life

The sun was rising by the time Ridge had everything set up. It had taken him a few hours to calm down after his panic attack, and a few more hours still to get the medical equipment set up. At least this time Lalna would get proper medical attention. 

Ridge stood facing the infusion altar, having placed the last two ingredients. Nano and Honeydew were standing in the doorway behind him, watching silently. Nilesy and Lomadia were making sure everything was set up. 

Taking a deep breath and hoping nothing would explode, Ridge activated the altar. He watched carefully to make sure everything was okay, and for the first time in what felt like weeks, nothing went wrong. The altar sparked and shook, but a moment later an Eternal bloom appeared in front of them. 

Ridge carefully picked up the flower, which was radiating warmth. He took a deep breath and headed back to Lalna. 

**XXX**

Lalna closed his eyes when Livid dragged him into the final memory. Livid hadn't said anything, but Lalna knew that this was the end. 

After taking a moment to mentally prepare himself, he opened his eyes and looked around. 

They were standing in a small bedroom. There was a woman lying in the bed, and a man was kneeling next to the bed holding her hand. Neither of them were moving or saying anything, so it took Lalna a minute to realize that the woman was dead. 

He looked a bit closer. The dead woman was pale, and she had long white blonde hair. The man had russet brown hair, and he looked exhausted. 

So these were his parents? He saw that he looked a lot like his mother, and his father had the same color eyes that he did before they changed to green. 

Numb, he looked around the room and spotted a cradle close to the bed. He walked over and looked inside, seeing a tiny and sickly baby wrapped in blankets. It looked like it wouldn't even make it through the night, let alone keep living. 

He heard Livid step up beside him. 

“William Duncan Coffee,” he said. “That was your name.” 

Lalna felt Livid's hand on his shoulder, and the memory disappeared. They were left standing in the dark again. 

“Well,” said Livid, “this is the end of the road. It's-”

Suddenly, Livid disappeared, and everything was silent. Then a glowing purple light appeared in front of him.

Cautiously, Lalna walked towards the light. He had only taken a few steps when the light swirled in front of him and formed itself into the shape of a human. The light stepped forward and the tall humanoid figure within became visible.

“Mother...?” whispered Lalna.

She was several feet taller than him, and she had long flowing purple hair. She was wearing a dress that looked to be made of pure flux, and her gray skin was speckled with small flux crystals.

She smiled at him. 

“Lalna...” she said, kneeling down so she was eye level with him. He recognized her voice, having heard it in his head when he got near the castle or whenever he slept. 

“What's going on...?” he asked quietly, feeling calmness wash over him. Mother was here. He was safe. 

“You're about to wake up,” said Mother. “When you do, you'll be injured and sick and in pain, but you can't give up. You need to survive.” 

“Why...?”

Mother paused. “Because if you don't survive, Nano won't either.” 

Before he could ask what she meant, everything suddenly melted away, and he found himself standing. He took a single breath, and in the duration of that breath, he saw Nano. She was standing about ten feet away from him. Their eyes met, and relief flooded him. She was okay. 

Then he exhaled and immediately collapsed, blood beginning to flow out of his arm and chest. 

Ridge had been standing right next to him when he woke up, so he caught him as soon as his legs gave out. Then, trying to avoid causing him any further pain, he picked him up and carried him over to the operating table where Lomadia stood waiting. 

Nano wanted to run over to Lalna, but Honeydew and Nilesy held her back. 

“We should go,” said Nilesy quietly, keeping a firm grip on Nano's shoulder. “We'll only be in the way.”

Honeydew nodded, and he and Nilesy quickly led Nano out of the room. However, when they reached the door, they all happened to look back in time to see and hear Ridge amputate the rest of Lalna's arm. 

**XXX**

“Four hours...” mumbled Nano, who was laying on her bed with her eyes closed. “It's been four hours and we still haven't heard anything...”

“These things take time,” said Nilesy as he took the warm cloth off Nano's forehead and replaced it with a fresh cold one. “Now you need to calm down a bit. You've already thrown up twice.”

Nano shot a glare at him. “You care about Lomadia, right?”

Nilesy looked taken aback by the question. “Well... yeah. I mean, she's one of my best friends.” 

“And if that was her being operated on, would you be able to calm down?”

Nilesy glanced at his feet. “I guess not...”

Nano sighed and closed her eyes. “Sorry... I feel like if I yell, everything will be okay. Lalna will be okay, Xephos will wake up, Ridge will get better, this will all be a nightmare and I won't actually be pregnant...” 

“According to Lomadia, it's not as bad after a while,” said Nilesy with a shrug. “You're only, what, two months in?”

Nano groaned. “Please don't talk about it. I'll decide how I feel about this whole baby thing _after_ I make sure Lalna's gonna be okay.” 

Before Nilesy could say anything, Honeydew walked in, having returned from checking on Xephos.

“Xeph's okay...” muttered Honeydew. “He hasn't gotten any worse. I couldn't see how Lalna was doing. They locked the doors...” 

Nano groaned and started to look green again, and Nilesy had a small panic attack when he realized that the vomit bucket was still in the bathroom. 

Suddenly, the door opened and Lomadia stepped in. She looked tired and slightly bloodstained.

Nano practically fell out of her bed. She and Honeydew were in front of Lomadia in a split second. 

“I've got good news and bad news,” she said. “Walk with me.” 

They turned for the door, and Nilesy went to go stay with Xephos. 

“So here's what happened,” said Lomadia as they walked down the hall. “He lost a lot of blood and went into a coma. His blood type is B-, so none of us have the right blood type for a transfusion. That means we can only wait and hope he pulls through...” 

Nano and Honeydew were quiet. They had expected something like this... 

A minute later, they reached the private recovery room Lalna had been moved to. Nano thought she felt her heart stop when she saw him. 

He was pale as death, and the bandage wrapped around his torso and shoulder was stained with blood. He was hooked up to several different machines, there was an IV in his remaining arm, and there was an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose. His left side was facing the door, so Nano couldn't immediately see where his arm used to be. 

Feeling like she was in a trance, Nano walked over to him and sat down in the chair by his bed. She carefully took his freezing cold hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, trying to let him know that she was there. She heard Honeydew sit down next to her, but she didn't look up. 

Ridge stood off to the side, slumped against the wall. He looked exhausted and distressed. Lomadia, who was still standing in the doorway, noticed this, so she gestured for him to step outside. 

He followed her into the hallway, and she led him into a nearby room that looked like it could also serve as a recovery room, even though there was only a small bed and a chair. 

“What's up?” he asked tiredly.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Well, two of the few people I care about are both sick and dying and there's nothing I can do about it, so no, I'm not okay...” 

Lomadia shook her head. “That's not what I meant... You've been acting _different_ since the nightmare...” 

Ridge stared at her for a second before looking down at his feet. “I'm scared of drowning, and Israphel appeared and held me underwater until I woke up...” he mumbled. 

Lomadia narrowed her eyes. “I get the feeling you aren't telling me everything...” 

Ridge was silent.

Lomadia sighed. “You know you'll feel better after you tell someone...”

He looked conflicted for a moment before sitting down on the bed with a sigh. Lomadia sat next to him. 

“With everything that's been happening, it's just...” He sighed. “I used to be a father. I used to have a wife too, but she... she was human. When our daughter was born, she didn't survive.”

Lomadia sat frozen, afraid that if she moved Ridge would close himself off. She could see him fighting for control.

“And then my little girl, she... she was so strong... She held on and wouldn't let go. S-she was born with two hearts, both of them only half formed. She didn't even last a month...”

Lomadia shook her head. “Does anybody else know about this? Does your pregnant sister know about this?”

Ridge shook his head. “No, but... Nano shouldn't worry... She's strong, she'll be fine... It's just... in the nightmare, I heard my daughter crying. I guess... that brought a lot of bad memories back...”

He sighed and covered his face with his hands. Lomadia carefully put her arm around his shoulder and hugged him. However, when she did so she noticed that he had a high fever. 

“Ridge, you're burning up,” she quietly exclaimed. 

He shook his head. “It's nothing to worry about. I know it feels like a dangerous fever, but it's just a side effect of some of the magic I used to help Lalna. Besides, my temperature is always higher than normal.”

“Are you sure?” asked Lomadia. “Because you look ready to pass out.”

“I'm just tired,” said Ridge reassuringly. “Haven't gotten much sleep lately. You should go take a nap, too. I know your baby has been keeping you awake with all the tossing and turning, but I think it's about to fall asleep for a few hours. Now would be a good time to get some rest.”

Lomadia was quiet for a moment, and Ridge could tell she was thinking about it and longing for a nice uninterrupted nap. 

“Okay,” she finally said. “I'll take a nap if you promise to take some fever medicine.”

Ridge nodded. “As you wish.” 

Lomadia nodded, then she stood up and left the room.

As soon as she was gone, Ridge leaned back against the wall, grimacing at the sharp shooting pain in his chest. Using a tiny bit of magic, he checked his temperature. 109 and rising. 

He had been using his magic too much without letting it recharge, so he was being punished for it. He had been using a large amount of magic every second for the past two and a half weeks, and now he was paying for it.


	8. Corrupted

Nano and Honeydew were sitting at Lalna's bedside. Everything was silent except the weak beeping of the heart monitor, the periodic gasping as Lalna struggled for breath, and the occasional rustle of a page as Nano read a book Ridge had given her. She seemed overly focused on the book, as if she wanted to fully escape the situation. 

After a while, Nano looked up. Lalna was still pale and comatose, but Honeydew looked equally catatonic. Nano realized that he had been unusually silent.

Slowly closing her book, she looked over at the dwarf.

“Honeydew...?” she whispered, startling him with the sudden break of silence. “Are you okay?” 

Honeydew looked at her, opened his mouth for a moment, then suddenly broke down and started to cry. Shocked, Nano put her arm around his shoulders to try and calm him down. 

“S-sorry...” he gasped. “It's just... both of my friends are dying, and you think I would be used to it by now, but I'm not... I s-still have nightmares about when Xephos was killed by Israphel, a-and all those times we thought Lalna w-was dead... I mean... he's been p-poisoned and nuked and s-stabbed more times than any human ever should... This is almost as b-bad as when he and Rythian were stuck in the Nether and we found him m-missing half an arm...”

Nano nodded, remembering the Nether incident. That had been when they were still new to each other. She had become his apprentice after the Nether incident, but they had met before and bonded. It was strange for her to think that little more than a year ago she had barely known him, and now they were closer than ever and she was pregnant with his baby. 

After a few more minutes, Honeydew calmed down a bit. 

“I uh... I feel like I should thank you...” he said after another minute. 

“What do you mean?” asked Nano.

“I should thank you for keeping Lalna out of trouble,” he elaborated. “After you guys got together, he seemed more... stable. Y'know, less likely to nuke somebody.” 

Nano glanced at her feet, blushing. “Well, now I'm the one that does all the nuking...” 

Honeydew chuckled. “He was so lonely before he met you. He lived by himself in that giant castle, wandering around and building bombs and talking to himself... It's a good thing you found him.”

Nano smiled, but before she could say anything the heart rate monitor suddenly started beeping loudly, and Lalna suffered a small convulsion.

Nano jumped to her feet. “Go get Ridge!” she shouted at Honeydew, who nodded and ran out the door.

“It's okay,” she whispered as she held Lalna's hand and gently brushed his hair back, trying to calm him down. “You're going to be okay...” 

A second later, the door busted open and Ridge ran in with Honeydew right behind him. He crossed the room in two steps and was at Lalna's side, his glowing gold hands on Lalna's chest. A second later, the alarms on the machines stopped and Lalna started to breathe easier again.

“What just happened?” asked Nano, breathing shallowly as a panic-induced wave of nausea hit her. 

Ridge was breathing heavily from the sprint, but he still tried to explain. “During... during the... operation... I f-fixed his heart... and removed his pacemaker... He just... experienced... a tiny r-relapse... which I fixed... so it won't... won't happen again...” 

Suddenly, he staggered a bit and dropped to his knees, looking deathly pale. Nano and Honeydew rushed to his side and pulled him into a chair.

“Are you okay?” asked Honeydew nervously. 

“I'm f-fine...” gasped Ridge. “Just... exhausted...” 

“Physically or magically?” asked Nano. “Because I've seen you run before, and you've got a lot more endurance than this.”

“Magically...”

Nano nodded and felt his forehead. “Whoa, Ridge!” she exclaimed. “Why is your fever so high?”

Ridge shook his head. “It's the magic exhaustion...” he coughed, sounded slightly less winded. “I've been constantly shielding the mountain for almost three weeks now without giving my... my magic the chance to regenerate... and I've been away from the Overworld for too long, which is really bad for my health.”

Nano shook her head. “Well... why don't you go back to the Overworld for a bit and recharge? Maybe stop by YogLabs and pick up more medicine, because we're running low.”

Honeydew nodded. “You might even want to spend the night there if that will help. Because... not to be rude... but you look like shit right now...” 

Slowly, Ridge nodded in agreement. “Will you guys be okay here without me?”

Nano nodded. “I think we can handle things here.”

“Thanks,” he said, forcing himself to his feet. Nano helped him stagger out of the room.

He started to head to the mountain exit, but then he realized something.

Looking around to make sure nobody was nearby, he turned and headed deeper into the mountain. After several minutes, he found the secret passageway that took him all the way to bedrock. The further down he went, the colder it became. He always avoided this area because of how weak the Void magic in the air made him, but now he needed to check something. 

Finally, he reached the small prison with walls built from bedrock. This was where he left Lalnable.

Looking inside the cell, he saw that Lalnable's body was still standing where he had left it, but something was different. He summoned all the magic he could and scanned him. Then he froze.

There were no signs of life. The body was still there, but Lalnable and Master were gone.

Ridge staggered back and started to run back to the main part of the mountain, his mind reeling. He had been so busy shielding the mountain to make sure nothing got in that he hadn't noticed when Master and Lalnable had escaped to find a different host, leaving the shell of the frozen body behind. 

As fast as he could, he made it to the bio-lock and zapped back to the Overworld. It was dark, and there wasn't as much energy in the air, but it was still enough to make him breathe easy again. 

Flying as fast as his drained magic would allow, he rushed to YogLabs and burst through the door, scaring the pants off of several of the workers. Without waiting for them to say anything, he ran past them and into the master clone storage. At first the doors didn't open, but a tiny bit of magic changed that.

He ran into the clone storage area, passing Lalnable's empty cage as he did so. 

He quickly located Lalna's master clone, and when he scanned it he felt his hearts stop.

Shocked, he stood there motionless for a minute until one of the workers came up to him.

“Sir...? Is... is there a problem...?” the nervous man asked. 

Ridge took a shaky breath. “This clone has been corrupted...”

“That's not a clone, sir... That's the original one,” said the worker. 

Ridge started to feel sick. “There's a rift behind the coffee machine... It leads to a pocket dimension with a Reflecting Pool. Put the corrupted one there and use the secondary master clone.”

“Yes sir,” said the nervous worker.

Ridge stepped back and watched in a trance as the corrupted clone – no, the original Lalna, the one he had found dying in the forest after Israphel tried to kill him – was taken away, and the secondary master clone, which had been introduced after Honeydew's incident, replaced him. 

Feeling dizzy from the rush of adrenaline, he sat down. He just hoped that nobody found the Reflecting Pool and woke the original Lalna up. If that happened, then Lalnable and Master would be free again.


	9. Happy Ending

Ridge didn't remember much of what happened after he sent Lalna to the Reflecting Pool. He vaguely remembered someone leading him to a room and telling him there would be a guard outside to make sure nobody bothered him. He must have looked worse than he felt. 

Even though he planned on going back to his base to sleep, he was too tired. When he woke up the next morning, he felt significantly better. His hearts were beating smoothly and his fever had broken. He was, however, in a bit of a shock when he opened the door and saw Bort sitting against the wall, staring at him.

“Are you the one who was guarding my room?” asked Ridge.

Bort grunted and gave him a thumb's up. That was when Ridge noticed the small Pigman sleeping on Bort's shoulder. 

“Golem!” exclaimed Ridge. The little Pigman woke with a start, but jumped in happiness when he saw Ridge. He jumped down and gave Ridge a hug. He noticed that the Pigman was fully grown, but still smaller than average. 

“Good to see you too, buddy,” he said. “I'd take you with me to go see Lalna, but he's not doing so well right now.” 

Golem looked up at him, shocked.

“Don't worry, it'll be fine,” Ridge reassured him. “... I think.”

He turned and left, heading for the medical lab. Normally he would turn himself invisible if he wanted to steal something, but he didn't want to waste any of his precious magic. So he walked into the hospital wing and took a few bottles of fever medicine, disinfectant, and several other important things. He even took a few bags of O- blood for Lalna. Nobody stopped him.

He headed for the door, not looking forward to getting back to Age 18. However, just before he reached the door, he felt a tug on his pant leg. He looked down and saw Golem.

“You want to come with me?”

Golem nodded vigorously. 

“Okay, well you'll need this.” Ridge waved his hand, and a small sweater appeared out of thin air. Golem picked it up and put it on, then he climbed into Ridge's arms, and they left.

When they reached Age 18 half an hour later, Golem let out a small shriek of surprise at how cold it was, and he hid under Ridge's shirt until they were inside. 

Ridge led the way down to Lalna's room, Golem trotting after him. When they walked into the room, Golem ran over and climbed up on the bed, sitting at Lalna's feet. He looked shocked. 

Looking around, Ridge noticed that Nano wasn't in the room, so he quickly refreshed the medicine cabinet and used the blood to give Lalna a transfusion. Almost immediately, his vitals began to slowly improve. 

“Keep an eye on him, okay,” said Ridge. Golem nodded, not taking his eyes off Lalna. 

Ridge left and went to Nano's room, but he saw that she was asleep, so he didn't bother her. Then he went to check on Xephos.

He was shocked when he found Lomadia, Nilesy, and Honeydew waiting for him in Xephos' room. 

“What's going on...?” he asked, glancing at Xephos, who looked like he was already dead. According to the machines, he didn't have long. 

“We're out of time,” said Lomadia. She reached out and gave something to Ridge. He looked down and saw that it was a sleeping potion. Then he looked up and saw that Lomadia was holding one too.

“Uh...”

“We're going in together, and we're going to save Xephos,” said Lomadia.

“Uh, I don't think it's a good idea for you to go...” said Ridge uncertainly. 

“There are only two potions left, and I'm a better fighter than these two,” she exclaimed, gesturing over her shoulder to Honeydew and Nilesy, who both nodded. 

“But...”

Lomadia shook her head. “Try and stop me.”

Then she dropped into a seat and drank the potion. 

**XXX**

A minute later, Lomadia opened her eyes and looked around, seeing the pink sky above her. She stood up and took in her immediate surroundings, seeing that Ridge wasn't here yet. 

As she waited, she noticed something. Looking down, she saw that the small bump she had finally gotten used to had disappeared. In the Spirit World, she wasn't pregnant anymore. 

Before she could realize the full implications, Ridge appeared next to her, looking pained and disoriented.

“Did you have another episode?” she asked.

Ridge nodded, clutching his chest and standing upright. “This place is full of Void magic... I don't do well here...” 

“The faster we find Xephos, the faster we can get out of here,” said Lomadia, who was starting to worry about her baby. 

Ridge nodded. “Right... I've got the coordinates from Honeydew and Nilesy... let's go.” 

They took off running towards the area where Xephos was rumored to be. The closer they got, the darker the sky got and the hotter the air became. Ridge started to regain a bit of energy, which he realized meant energy was being brought in from an outside source. They were getting close. 

Finally, the sky turned black, and a glowing orange light appeared. They rounded a corner and stopped in shock. 

Xephos hovered comatose in a sphere of glowing orange light. Israphel stood in front of it, looking at them.

“Oh, nice to see you here,” he said, smiling in a creeper-like way. “Y'know, the Void and the Spirit World are really closely linked, so I can appear here. And-”

“And you're using Xephos as an energy tap so you can gain enough energy to break through bedrock and return to the Nether or Overworld,” said Ridge quickly, not having the energy or patience to listen to a speech. “Just... fuck you, give us our friend back.” 

Israphel looked disappointed that he didn't get to monologue. “You're no fun. Come try and get him.” 

Lomadia lunged forward and started to kick the corporeal shit out of Israphel, while Ridge ran to the glowing energy prison. He could feel the heat of the fire essence that made the prison. He knew he should be concerned that Xephos had turned out to be a fire spirit like Israphel, but that was a problem for later. 

Ignoring the sound of Lomadia shouting at Israphel and chasing him around with a large sword, he focused on the prison. The energy it was made of seemed highly volatile, and it would take an extreme amount of magic to break it. 

Then he had an idea. What's the best way to fight fire?

He reached into his shirt pocket and found the small icy needle Lomadia had given him the first time he came to the Spirit World. Taking it out, he threw it at the sphere, which instantly solidified at the touch of the ice and shattered like glass.

Xephos dropped to the ground, and Ridge rushed forward and ripped the collar off. He heard Israphel scream, and then he was gone.

Lomadia ran over and pulled Xephos onto her lap, holding him for a minute until he slowly opened his eyes. 

“W-what... happened...?” he coughed, grimacing and trying to sit up. “Where...”

“Shh...” whispered Lomadia. The sound of her voice seemed to focus him. 

“Lomadia...?” 

She smiled, looking like she was holding back tears. “We're in the Spirit World, I'll explain everything when you wake up.”

“Lomadia, you go first, then Xephos,” said Ridge. 

Lomadia nodded and used her icy needle, disappearing. Ridge then leaned over Xephos.

“Good luck,” he said, pricking Xephos' finger with a second needle. He too disappeared. Then, thankful that he would most likely never have to come back to the Spirit World, Ridge pricked his finger with his last icy needle. 

He woke up a second later sprawled on the ground in front of the chair he had originally sat in. He painfully stood up and saw Lomadia standing over Xephos, whose vitals were stabilizing. He was waking up. 

Honeydew and Nilesy were excitedly talking, but Ridge couldn't make out what they were saying – his ears were ringing, and he felt dizzy and sick again. His fever was back, and he knew he wouldn't be able to help, so he sat back and watched as Xephos woke up long enough to drink a bit of water and give Lomadia and Honeydew a hug. Within minutes, he was asleep again, but this time he would be recovering instead of dying.

A minute after Xephos had fallen asleep, Lomadia stepped over to Ridge and pulled him out into the hall. 

“Is everything okay?” asked Ridge.

“Uh... can you scan me and make sure the baby is okay...?” she asked nervously. 

He nodded, and his eyes turned gold. A second later, they returned to blue. 

“It's okay,” he said. “It's just sleeping. Just make sure it starts moving again soon.”

Lomadia nodded. “Thanks...” she said, sounding relieved. 

“Y'know,” said Ridge, “I could tell you the gender, if you want.”

Lomadia smiled, but she shook her head. “No, I want to be surprised. And besides, it'll be fun for me and Xeph to think of different boy and girl names.” 

Ridge nodded, and Lomadia went back to Xephos. 

**XXX**

Nano sat at Lalna's bedside, holding his hand and quietly humming. Golem still sat at the foot of the bed, and after a while he started to hum along with her. 

The transfusion had helped significantly, and his wounds were bleeding less than normal, but he still hadn't woken up.

After a while, Nano and Golem stopped humming, and she thought back to when Ridge said she should talk to him. 

“Uh...” she muttered, clearing her throat, “Ridge told me I should talk to you, because apparently you can hear everything I'm saying... Well, you made it this far. You're out of stasis, and I'm here with you. Uh... I'm pregnant. That's a pretty big deal, and I blame you completely. So... if you don't wake up I'm going to be very mad.”

She stopped. She had been thinking about the situation, and she decided that if Lalna didn't wake up, she wouldn't keep the baby. In fact, the only thing that would make her go through with the pregnancy would be if Lalna survived and was with her the whole time. 

With a sigh, she stood up and gently kissed him on the forehead. Then she bent down and whispered in his ear.

“Please wake up...” 

Then he moved.

Nano stood bolt upright, holding her breath. He shifted again, breathing deeper than he had been a moment ago. Nano glanced at one of the screens and saw that his vitals were slowly returning to normal. 

Nano and Golem stood frozen for almost ten minutes before Lalna finally opened his eyes. 

“Oh, hello...” he said when he saw Nano leaning over him.

A wide smile broke out on Nano's face. “Hi...”

Then she bent over and kissed him. Golem covered his eyes.

When they broke apart a moment later, Lalna was smiling. Even though he was exhausted and in severe pain, he was so happy to see Nano. 

“How do you feel?” she asked, climbing up on the bed and laying down next to him, his arm wrapped around her. 

“Well, my arm doesn't hurt anymore,” he said, not looking to his right.

“You... you know your arm is gone, right?”

“Yeah, I know. But it's a great opportunity to teach you how to make prosthetic limbs.”

Nano stared at him. “You don't seem bothered about losing your entire arm...”

Lalna laughed a bit and closed his eyes, leaning his head against Nano's. “I thought I was going to die... I thought I would never see you again... An arm is a small price to pay. Besides, I'm left handed.” 

For the first time in what felt like months, Nano laughed. “Oh how I've missed you.”

“How long was I asleep?” he asked.

“Honestly, I have no idea,” admitted Nano. “I've lost all sense of time. I do know that we were in stasis for two weeks though.”

Lalna nodded. “So where exactly are we?”

“Age 18,” she explained. “We're in Ridge's mountain base. Xephos, Honeydew, Lomadia, and Nilesy are here too, and they're all okay.” 

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, remember when Xephos almost died in the Nether, and Ridge used his blood to save him?”

Lalna nodded.

“Well, that turned him into a demigod, and his poison made him trigger God Mode, and he nearly killed himself. He went into a coma and just woke up an hour ago.”

Lalna stared at her. “That's... uh... Is he going to be okay?”

Nano nodded. “He's going to be fine.”

Lalna sighed and stared at the ceiling. “What else did I miss?”

“Well, we're going to have a baby,” said Nano casually. 

Lalna's head snapped back to face her. “Wait... what?! But I thought... How did... You said you couldn't... We... How...?”

Nano couldn't tell if he was happy or upset, so as she spoke she stared at the bandages on his chest. “I think I figured it out. Remember about two months ago when you made that lamp of fertility and left it in our room as a joke? Then that night we got really drunk, forgot it was there, and had sex? That's how it happened.”

Lalna was silent, so Nano risked a glance at his face. He was staring at the ceiling, his face blank.

Nano gulped. “Lalna...? Are you okay...?”

Slowly, a smile broke across his face, and to Nano's surprise, he started crying. He looked at her, his face expressing nothing but happiness. 

“That's amazing,” he stammered, pulling Nano into a hug and holding her tight, even though it hurt his chest. “I p-promise, I'll do everything I can to help you and make sure everything goes okay...”

He tried to keep talking, but the overwhelming mixture of laughter and crying got the better of him, and all he could do was smile and hold onto Nano, afraid to let go. 

They stayed like this for another hour before they both fell asleep. The whole time, neither of them let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wouldn't this have been a perfect place to end the story? Let's see what the next two chapters have in store.


	10. Goodnight

Ridge stood next to Lalna's bed, quietly checking his vitals and listening as he told Nano about what happened while he was in stasis. He had gotten a lot more talkative after Ridge gave him pain medicine. Unfortunately, the medicine made him incredibly nauseous, so he was kept on an intravenous line until he could keep food down. 

“Okay,” said Ridge, interrupting Lalna's description of how much of an asshole Livid was. “Your vitals are looking good so far. I'm going to start giving you antibiotics so we don't have to go through what happened last time you lost an arm.”

Lalna nodded, remembering the painful and nearly fatal infection he had gotten from his gangrenous hand. It had caused him to go into septic shock, and he had been half dead by the time they got him to a proper medical facility. At least it would be different this time. 

“When can we go home?” asked Nano, who was sitting with her elbows on the bed. Ridge noticed that she still looked pale, but she hadn't been sick since Lalna woke up. Hopefully it was just the stress that was making her nausea bad. 

Ridge glanced at Lalna. “As soon as you can walk without passing out and keep your food down, you two can go home.” 

Lalna smiled. “Thanks... Also, thanks for saving our lives...”

Ridge nodded, and he turned to leave, but Nano stopped him.

“Hold on, I have a question,” she said, grabbing his sleeve as he passed her. 

“You do?”

“Yeah. How long did it take you to learn to become completely invisible?”

Ridge stared at her. It had been a long time since she expressed any interest in her demigod powers. “Why do you ask...?”

“The walrus broke one of our windows, so I want to find their weakness and destroy them.”

“I still think you should just curse one of them,” said Lalna.

Ridge shook his head. “I wouldn't recommend trying it. Without fully developed powers, you could hurt yourself. And even with developed powers, learning invisibility is usually what triggers the second heart to grow, which is incredibly painful and not something I recommend going through when you're pregnant.” 

“Fine...” grumbled Nano, looking disappointed. 

Ridge smiled. “I'm sure you'll find your own way to torment them.”

They smiled, and he turned and left the room, listening to them talk.

“So Lalna, what do you think it's going to be? Boy or girl?”

“I really hope it's a girl...” 

Ridge closed the door and walked down the hall a bit before stumbling and leaning heavily against the wall. He was now beyond the point of feeling the ripping pain in his chest. Now he just felt cold. He didn't dare check his fever. 

After taking a moment to catch his breath and gather his strength, he continued on to Xephos' room. 

In the three days since they had woken him up, Xephos' health had drastically improved. He was even able to stand on his own and walk around for several minutes before getting tired. 

When Ridge walked into the room, he saw Xephos and Lomadia sitting cross legged on the bed, facing each other and talking quietly. Ridge assumed they were talking about their baby, since Lomadia had just broken the news to him the day before. They stopped and looked up when he walked in.

“You look better,” observed Ridge. “What were you guys talking about?”

“Well...” said Xephos, sounding apprehensive, “we were talking about what happened with the poison... And I was wondering if you could take the power away from me.”

Ridge raised an eyebrow. “You want me to take away your power?”

Xephos nodded. “Clearly I can't control it, so I figured it would be safer for everyone if I didn't have those powers.”

Ridge glanced at Lomadia, who shrugged.

“Don't look at me, this was all his idea,” she said. “He was just running it by me. He thinks it would be better for the three of us if he was back to normal.” 

With a sigh, Ridge nodded. “I'll give it a shot. Xephos, lay down.”

Lomadia stood from the bed, and Xephos did as he was told. Ridge came over and put his hands on Xephos' chest, closing his eyes and focusing on the magic in his blood. He couldn't help but feel jealous at all the magic Xephos contained, while he was running on fumes. Then again, one heart was easier to manage than three. 

After a moment, he took hold of the fiery magic within Xephos and attempted to remove it. However, it held tight. He couldn't take away Xephos' powers.

He struggled to remove the magic until his nose started to bleed. That was when he staggered back, pulling out a cloth and holding it to his nose.

“What happened?” asked Xephos, sitting up and looking at Ridge with concern.

“I'm fine...” stammered Ridge, forcing himself to stand upright even though his legs were shaking and the pain in his chest was radiating through his abdomen. He wiped off the blood, put on a straight face, and pretended he wasn't about to pass out. 

“So here's the deal...” he said. “Your powers have bonded with you, so I can't remove them without killing you.”

“What do you mean they've bonded?” asked Lomadia.

“They've chosen an element,” said Ridge, closing his eyes to stop seeing double. “When you first get your powers, it's sort of a free for all. You're unstable and volatile, but after your magic bonds to you and chooses the element that best represents you, they become more stable and manageable. I'm guessing yours didn't bond with you until after you collapsed in the Overworld.”

“What do you mean by element?” asked Xephos.

Ridge sighed, his head throbbing. He really wanted to lie down, but he needed to answer Xephos' questions. 

“All demigods – born or Changed – are linked to an element. I'm an air spirit, Nano's a water spirit, Ross is an earth spirit... so on... We all have a plane of existence that we most belong to. I belong to the Overworld, Ross belongs to the Deep Dark, Nano belongs on a beach somewhere. It's all based on what kind of spirit you are, and the more in tune you are with your element and your magic, the more power you have and the more you rely on your plane of existence for energy.”

“So what am I?” asked Xephos.

Ridge and Lomadia looked at each other. After a second, Lomadia gave a small nod.

“You're a fire spirit,” muttered Ridge.

Xephos went pale. “Then... does that mean my plane of existence is the Nether...? Oh fuck, does that mean Israphel was a fire spirit too?”

He looked like he was beginning to work himself into a panic, so Ridge stepped in.

“If you're a fire spirit, you can live in both the Nether and the Overworld. Besides, Israphel was a lava spirit, not a fire spirit.” That was a lie, but it seemed to calm Xephos down a bit.

Ridge sighed. “Look, I'll answer more of your questions later, but I need to head back to the Overworld for a bit. I'm running really low on energy. Do you guys need anything?” 

They shook their heads no, and Ridge nodded.

“Okay, then I'll be back later. And you guys can go back home as soon as Xephos is healthy enough.”

He turned and left the room, but when he was halfway down the hall, he heard footsteps. Turning around, he saw Lomadia standing behind him.

“Is everything okay?” asked Ridge.

Lomadia shook her head. “I... I haven't felt the baby move yet. It's been three days since we woke up Xephos, and normally I can feel it shifting or moving, but I haven't felt anything yet...” 

“It's okay, calm down,” said Ridge gently, seeing that she looked like she was about to start crying. His eyes flashed gold. “I just did a quick scan, and everything still looks okay. Nice heartbeat, good brainwave activity, development looks fine... He's just sleeping.”

Lomadia stared at him. “He...?”

Ridge realized his mistake too late and slapped his hand over his mouth. “Shit, sorry...”

Lomadia shook her head. “It's fine, but don't tell Xephos. He really wants to be surprised.”

Ridge nodded, putting his hand on Lomadia's shoulder. “When I'm back in the Overworld, I'll ask around and see if I can find an antidote for sleeping potions.”

A small smile crept onto Lomadia's face, and she stepped forward and hugged him. 

“Thank you,” she said, stepping back. “And... I guess my son will thank you too...” 

Ridge smiled. “Go relax. Everyone's okay, and I'll make sure your baby wakes up and starts pissing you off again.”

Lomadia laughed and wished him luck before heading back to Xephos. As soon as she was out of sight, Ridge's smile dropped and he slumped against the wall. Even the small scan had been too much effort. 

Slowly, he turned and headed back into the mountain, trying not to show how much physical pain he was in. 

**XXX**

Lalna rested his head against his pillow, looking to his left and staring at Nano. She had fallen asleep with her head on his chest, luckily not near the wounds. His arm was wrapped around her, his hand resting on her stomach. Apparently growing another human was tiring business, because this was her third nap of the day. 

He stared at her, admiring her beauty and listening to the sound of her steady breathing. Her knee was digging into his hip, but he didn't care. 

Just as he was starting to drift off, there was a knock on the door, which startled them both awake.

“What?” asked Nano, half shouting. 

The door opened and Ridge poked his head in. “Sorry, didn't mean to wake you...”

Nano grunted and laid back down, burying her face in Lalna's shoulder. 

“What's up?” asked Lalna quietly.

“Well, I'm heading back to the Overworld for a bit, so I wanted to give you these before I go,” said Ridge, holding up a box with a bow on it. He handed it to Lalna, who set it on Nano's head and lifted the lid. Inside the box was Ridge's black and gold jacket, only it was missing the right arm.

“Whoa, what happened here?” asked Lalna, examining the missing arm.

“A hydra bit my arm off,” said Ridge, “but I cleaned out all the blood and sewed up the frayed seams. I know how cybernetics tend to overheat and burn off clothes, so I figured you could put this to good use.”

“Wow, thanks...” said Lalna, smiling up at Ridge.

“Glad you like it. Now Nano, this one's for you.”

Nano lifted her head and saw that Ridge was holding a small box. Carefully, she flipped over on her back and took the box, opening it. Only when she saw what was inside did she finally look awake. 

Sitting inside the box was a pale blue gem, about the same size and shape as her necklace. It was also glowing.

“It's imbued with moonlight,” said Ridge, seeming to read her mind. “That's why it glows. Perfect for a night light.”

“This is beautiful...” muttered Nano, closely examining the gem. 

Ridge smiled. “Thanks... Uh, I'm going to take Golem back to the Overworld. I don't think he should be in this cold place much longer.”

The little Pigman, who was snuggled up under the blanket between Lalna's feet, poked his head out at the mention of his name. 

“Yes, you,” said Ridge, picking Golem up. “You're coming with me.”

Golem looked at him for a second before jumping out of his arms and running over to give Lalna and Nano each a hug. Then he ran back to Ridge, and together they left Age 18.

They took the two hour walk to YogLabs at a nice comfortable pace – Ridge was doing his best to soak up as much energy as possible, but it was the middle of the night, so there wasn't as much as usual. 

When they reached YogLabs, Golem scampered off to find Bort, and Ridge headed down to the medical lab. He searched the place top to bottom, but he couldn't find any sort of antidote for a sleeping potion. 

After an hour or two of searching with no luck, he gave up. No antidote seemed to exist for a sleeping potion.

With a sigh, he turned and headed for the elevators, heading down to the lowest level of the facility. From there, he made his way to a secret room known only as the Observatory. 

The Observatory was a reinforced glass dome suspended in the Void below bedrock. The special glass allowed him to look into the Void without being exposed to any of the harmful cold Void magic or poisonous Void flux. 

Standing in the center of the Observatory, he shouted into the darkness.

“ISRAPHEL!”

Not a minute later, Israphel appeared on the other side of the glass.

“Hello to you too, brother,” said Israphel sarcastically. “I see you haven't gotten a new jacket yet.”

Ridge rolled his eyes. “Look, I-”

“Are you okay?” Israphel suddenly asked, taking Ridge off guard.

“What do you mean?”

“You look like you need to spend more time in the Overworld or you might get into some serious trouble,” he said, pressing close against the glass. “At this rate, it'll take you two months to regenerate your magic. I can hear your heartbeats, and the third one sounds really weak.” 

Ridge shook his head a bit. “Why are you-... You nearly killed one of my friends.”

Israphel looked like he was about to say something snarky, but then he sighed. “Look, I literally don't have the energy to be sarcastic right now. Just tell me what you want so I can go back to planning my escape and revenge.”

Ridge narrowed his eyes. “I want to know about Master.”

“Well, Master is one of those rare nodes that gains consciousness and cognitive reasoning, but he's a sinister node,” explained Israphel. “He was seeking a host, and the cannibal turned out to have the perfect mental environment. I don't know much about the cannibal, though, because he's not as interesting to watch as the Enderbeast disaster.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Ridge.

“Need I remind you that the Void exists outside of time?” asked Israphel. “While I like to stay as close to my own time as possible, sometimes I can't resist a peek into the future. And trust me, the Enderbeast disaster is one people will talk about for a very long time...” 

Ridge nodded slowly. “Anything else you can tell me?”

“Master craves power and instability,” said Israphel. “He'll stop at nothing to get it.” 

He nodded again. “Thanks for cooperating...”

Ridge turned to leave, but at the last second he had a thought. He waved his hand, and a small piece of glowstone appeared in Israphel's hand. It didn't provide enough energy for him to escape, but it was enough to make him not painfully miserable. 

Israphel watched Ridge leave, and as soon as he was gone, he looked down at the small piece of glowstone and gave a genuine smile, something he hadn't done in centuries. 

**XXX**

By the time Ridge returned to Age 18, it was late, and everybody was sleeping. 

He checked on Xephos and Lomadia first, but the room was empty. After a bit of searching, he found out that they moved to a different room with a larger bed. He did notice, however, that Lomadia had left him a note saying the baby finally woke up for a few hours after he left. 

Relieved that Lomadia and her baby were okay, he moved on. He found Honeydew and Nilesy asleep in adjacent rooms – Lyndon was using Nilesy's face as a pillow. 

Finally, he checked on Lalna and Nano. They were both asleep and tangled together. The way they were holding each other, it was clear that they were both afraid of being alone again.

A tired smile crept onto Ridge's face.

“Goodnight...” he whispered, softly closing the door.

**XXX**

The next morning, the whole mountain was woken by the horrible sound of a heart wrenching scream. 

Within minutes of the initial scream, Lomadia found Nano sitting on the ground sobbing. Nilesy was sitting next to her, hugging her and gently rocking her in an attempt to calm her down. When Lomadia appeared, however, he looked up at her and shook his head.

Then he gestured to the door behind him.

Lomadia realized that the door led to Ridge's room.

Feeling like she was moving in slow motion, she stepped into the room, seeing only what she needed to see.

Ridge was laying on his bed. It looked like he was asleep at first, but when she stepped closer she realized why Nano had become inconsolable.

Ridge was dead.


	11. Ash and Dust

The sun was setting behind the mountain, but the cold air was still. 

Lomadia stood holding a torch. To her left stood Nano and Lalna, who was pale and struggling to stand and breathe in the cold air. To her right stood Xephos, Honeydew, and Nilesy. Their eyes were red, and Nilesy's lip was still trembling.

Taking a deep breath, Lomadia stepped forward and set the torch down at the base of the funeral pyre. The dry dead wood caught instantly, and the flames spread quickly upwards towards the still body of Ridge. 

She stepped back, and they watched in silence as the pyre and the body burned. 

Staring at the fire, she thought back to yesterday morning, when they had found his body. She had also found a note on his bedside table. She had read it so many times that she could recite it in her mind.

_“If you're reading this, it means I'm probably dead. I'm sick and dying, and I know I'm not going to survive the night. If I somehow do, I'll keep this letter with me and put it out again tomorrow night._

_“When I went to the Overworld today, I didn't regenerate any of my magic, and my third heart completely stopped beating. That's how I know it's the end for this body._

_“I'd like to apologize to whoever finds me in the morning. I know that'll be rough, and I'm sorry. After you make sure I'm completely brain dead, please burn the body. Also, please don't burn me if I'm still alive._

_“I don't want any of you to worry. I have ways of preventing permanent death. I have several clones stored in stasis in different locations around this world, so when this body dies one of the clones will activate, and all of my memories will be transferred to the new body. It'll take a couple weeks to complete the memory transfer, but I'll be back in a fresh body that looks identical to this one but with fewer scars._

_“Stay safe while I'm gone. Good luck everybody, and goodnight._

_Ridge”_

It was reassuring to know that he would be back, but it was still sad. He had died to protect them, and he had been so worried about them that he forgot to look after himself. 

They stood watching the fire burn for another hour before it finally burned down. The ashes scattered in the breeze.

Without a word, they all turned and headed for the now open bio-lock, ready to leave this place and all of it's bad memories. Ready to go home. 

As they were approaching the bio-lock, the wind shifted a bit, and it started to snow.

Lalna looked up at the sky, smiling when he saw the flurries. Nano looked up too, looking at the snow for only a few seconds before focusing on Lalna. She smiled, stood on her toes, and kissed him on the cheek. He looked down at her, smiling wider, and he wrapped his arm around her in a gentle hug. 

Together, they stepped up to the bio-lock and went home, ready for their new life.

**XXX**

**Epilogue**

The little robot ran around his base, happily building his home and his farm. He was going about his business when he heard a sharp scream.

His sensors homed in on where the scream came from, so he ran to the top of the crater his base was built in. There, he found a man lying unconscious in the grass. He was pale, and he was wearing only a white button up shirt and pants.

His scanners showed him that the strange man was alive, but he had trouble understanding his vitals. Why was his heartbeat so erratic? Why was his temperature higher than normal? 

The robot knelt down and gently shook the stranger by the shoulder. After a moment, the man woke up.

“Wha-... where am I...?”

The little robot looked around. “Uh... We're right near my base. Are you okay? Do you need help?”

The man groaned and sat up. “I don't feel good...” he muttered. “Guess the memory transfer isn't complete yet. I can't remember how...”

He shook his head.

“Come with me,” said the robot, holding out his hand. “I can take care of you until you're better.”

The man took his hand, and he pulled him to his feet. He staggered and leaned heavily against the robot, dizzy and in pain.

“My name's Bebop,” said the robot. “What's yours?”

“Ridge,” said the man. “My name's Ridge.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter marks the end of everything I have written for this series. Don't worry, the series isn't over yet, but it'll be a while before I add anything to it.
> 
> In the meantime, I'll post my OTHER Yogscast series, which is called the "Dark Magic" series. As the name suggests, that's the darker and less happy but still good to read series. Take that as you will.
> 
> As always, it's been great, hope you guys enjoyed the series so far, and stick around, because I'm nowhere near done. Thanks!


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